Overture Magazine 2019-20 BSO_Overture_Nov_Dec | Page 21

MOZART PIANO CONCERTO NO. 23 aside for Soviet creators, and Prokofiev spent most of 1944 at a “House of Creative Work” near Ivanovo, west of Moscow. Buoyed by the news of the successful D-Day invasion in June, he wrote the Fifth very rapidly during the summer and early fall. The sonata-form first movement is unusual for being a slow movement, and in fact, slow tempos dominate the Fifth. It opens with the haunting principal theme, sung in octaves by flutes and bassoon. Strings reveal its beauty with lush harmonies. A wartime mood prevails with drums and dark brass adding military color and weight. As the tempo quickens, flute and oboe present the more flowing and optimistic second theme. The exposition closes with a grand fanfare-like theme for full orchestra envisioning the victory to come. Working out all these themes, the development section reaches a powerful climax, out of which the principal theme, now triumphant rather than wistful, is trumpeted forth by the brass. From cymbal crashes to blows on the gong, the movement reaches a staggering conclusion. Leaving memories of the war behind, movement two is a wry, ironic scherzo set to propulsive rhythms. Prokofiev originally intended this music for his ballet Romeo and Juliet, written a decade earlier. The scherzo music segues smoothly into a slower and slightly macabre trio section singing a downward-sliding tune. The Adagio is the emotional heart of the Symphony. Its quality of lyric tragedy is embodied in its beautiful, poignant principal theme, introduced by woodwinds but soon passed to its rightful owners, the strings. The gorgeous string writing here is vintage Prokofiev, as first violins soar to the stratosphere, arcing against the second violins not far below. The movement’s middle section is darker and more turbulent: a depiction of wartime suffering. Two funeral-march themes—one of them containing a sinister trill—strive against each other. This rises to a climax of shattering volume and dissonance before an ethereal close. After a brief recall of the Symphony’s opening melody led by richly divided cellos, the Allegro giocoso finale exuberantly prepares for peace. Its manic, almost comic mood is a violent contrast to the Adagio. Over rollicking horns, the clarinet leads with a theme of drollery, followed by a chirpy idea for oboes and finally a jauntily optimistic tune for flute. The development transforms the clarinet theme into a smoother, very Slavic melody for low strings, which receives a lively fugal treatment. With clattering percussion and the Slavic tune blazing in the brass, the symphony closes with a joyful noise. Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, E-flat clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano and strings. Notes by Janet E. Bedell, © 2019 Join Us! Keswick’s Wise & Well Center for Healthy Living is NOW OPEN! Membership Features and Benefits Members-only access to 14,000 square feet of spaces nurturing growth and infinite potential with a mile marker check to ensure you’re on course: • Active/fitness • Classroom and group learning • Visual arts • Culinary arts • Gardening Interested? Contact us at: [email protected] or call us at 410.662.4363 Located across from the Rotunda on the Keswick Campus 700 W 40th St. Baltimore, MD 21211 N OV– D EC 201 9 / OV E R T U R E 19