Between bars 4-8 Prokofiev then has a very melodic and lyrical progression of straight chords, completely contradicting what has just been played, again adding to the passages overall beauty. In bar 9, Prokofiev then begins the cycle again, and has another progression of cluster chords, building up to another great chord created this time out of 11 out of 12 of the degrees of the scale. This is then followed again by another progression of very melodic chords finishing with a perfect cadence into the main theme. I think that these 16 bars really demonstrate Prokofiev’s mastery of the orchestra, mainly because of the magnificent sound which he creates and the ways in which he splits the orchestra up into two groups and intertwines what each group is playing.
In movement 2, the passage which I feel really demonstrates Prokofiev’s use of orchestration is the passage in bars 43 (rehearsal mark 16) – 64 (rehearsal mark 18). I see this passage as a sort of interlude in between the main semi-quaver motif. The passage is meant to represent Juliet, the young girl being slightly more thoughtful, and less playful than before.
I feel that this passage demonstrates Prokofiev’s use of orchestration for the following reasons:
- Although this passage doesn’t use many of the instruments in the orchestra, it does provide an opportunity for the few instruments that are in it to really display the beauty of their sound. Not only this, but the passage is antiphonal, and therefore the melody is passed around to a number of instruments so that it is not just one instrument demonstrating this.
- As I explained before, the passage also really represent very well what is taking place in the story at the time as well. Prokofiev has written this passage very carefully to portray a number of things, Juliet’s emotions, the physical actions and perhaps even her mental state at the time; the music is passed around a number of different instruments almost as if it can’t quite settle.
This passage begins with a solo episode by the flute in which the main melody in introduced. In bars 43-47 Prokofiev uses just two instruments playing in counterpoint to each other before introducing a new tune with an accompaniment in bar 48, when the theme is passed to the cello. This, again, demonstrates Prokofiev’s mastery of the orchestra simply because he has passed from one of the highest pitched instruments in the orchestra to one of the lowest.
Prokofiev then goes on, in bar 56 (rehearsal mark 17) to introduce the same the cello has just played, but in the saxophone, an instrument not usually associated within the classical orchestra. In bar 60 the horns start playing in thirds whilst the harp plays the main theme, again, an instrument not usually associated within the classical orchestra.
Overall, this passage really demonstrates Prokofiev’s mastery of the orchestra simply because it is completely different to the rest of this movement of the suite, and this passage, he really brings out the inner beauty of his lyrical writings.
Finally, the passage which I think really demonstrates Prokofiev’s mastery of orchestral effects in the 3rd movement, is the passage between bars 1-8. This passage has a very thick texture and throughout this entire movement of the piece, Prokofiev uses the same instruments throughout, yet he still manages to make the piece sound incredible, and the one thing that I personally feel really demonstrates Prokofiev’s mastery of orchestral effects in this passage is the way in which he blends all the instruments involved together to give this very melancholy almost organ like (characterizing Friar Lawrence) sound.
Prokofiev does this by using very deep instruments throughout, showing his use of innovation, and by using an inverted pedal in the upper section he succeeds in sustaining the sound. All the instruments involved in this passage to really paint a picture of this old Friar who is plodding along, getting on with his life and his duties.
The instruments playing the main melody are the harp, bassoons and violas, whilst all the other instruments are providing an accompaniment.
Overall, I like this movement the best out of all of them, simply because it is so complexed, yet it sounds so simple, and the reason why is because Prokofiev has orchestrated this movement extremely cleverly, using innovation and lyrical writing.
Barnaby Southgate 13FH
Give an outline of the structure of the 3rd Movement, ‘Friar Lawrence’
The 3rd movement of Prokofiev’s ‘Romeo and Juliet Suite’, Friar Lawrence, has what is known as a well balanced structure to it, in that it is made up of equal phrases, which is a very classical way of writing a piece of music. This structure can be seen a lot in Bach, Beethoven, Haydn and many other classical composers’ works. The movement is made up of 32 bars, split into 3 sections, making in ternary form.
- Section 1 – Bars 1-8, is made up of 8 bars, divided into two bars of 4, an antecedent and a consequent, again, a very classical way of writing, perhaps reflecting the friar, a holy man. Each set of 4 bars ends with a perfect cadence.
- Section 2 – Bars 9-24, is made up of 16 bars, again, split up into two parts, this time of 8 bars, although each set of 8 bars has an antecedent and a consequent, therefore one could say that this part is split into 4 groups of 4 bars. The texture in this second section is slightly thinner than the texture in the preceding section. This second section provides more of a development to the piece and introduces a new theme, made up of a more polyphonic theme.
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Section 3 – This final section is, like the first section, made up of 8 bars divided into two bars of 4. This final section is bringing the piece to a close, and therefore re-introduces the original motif, again consisting of an antecedent and a consequent which both finish with a perfect cadence. The only difference between this 3rd section and the 2nd section is the small solo episode in the last two bars of the second part of the section (bars 31-32) which brings the piece to a close.
Barnaby Southgate 13FH
