Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev)
Alexander Nevsky (Russian: Александр Невский) is the score composed by Sergei Prokofiev for Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 film Alexander Nevsky. The subject of the film is the 13th century incursion of the knights of the Livonian Order into the territory of the Novgorod Republic, their capture of the city of Pskov, the summoning of Prince Alexander Nevsky to the defense of Rus', and his subsequent victory over the crusaders in 1242. The majority of the score's song texts were written by the poet Vladimir Lugovskoy.
In 1939, Prokofiev arranged the music of the film score as the cantata Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78, for contralto (often sung by mezzo-sopranos but not in fact in that range), chorus and orchestra. It is one of the few examples (Lieutenant Kijé is another) of film music that has found a permanent place in the standard repertoire, and has also remained one of the most renowned cantatas of the 20th century.
Eisenstein, Prokofiev, and Lugovskoy later collaborated again on another historical epic, Ivan the Terrible Part 1 (1944) and Part 2 (1946, Eisenstein's last film).
Alexander Nevsky, film score (1938)[edit]
Composition history[edit]
The score was Prokofiev's third for a film, following Lieutenant Kijé (1934) and The Queen of Spades (1936).[1] Prokofiev was heavily involved not just with the composition, but with the recording as well. He experimented with different microphone distances in order to achieve the desired sound. Horns meant to represent the Teutonic Knights, for instance, were played close enough to the microphones to produce a crackling, distorted sound. The brass and choral groups were recorded in different studios and the separate pieces were later mixed.[2]
Prokofiev employed different sections of the orchestra, as well as different compositional styles, to evoke the necessary imagery. For instance, the Teutonic Knights (seen as the adversary) are represented by heavy brass instruments, playing discordant notes in a martial style. The sympathetic Russian forces are represented predominantly by folk-like instruments such as woodwind and strings,[3] often playing quasi-folksong style music.
Publication history[edit]
In 2003, German conductor Frank Strobel reconstructed the original score of Alexander Nevsky with the cooperation of the Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture and the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI). The score is published by Musikverlage Hans Sikorski, Hamburg.
Performance history[edit]
The film Alexander Nevsky premiered on 23 November 1938 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.[4]
The concert premiere of the complete original film score, as reconstructed by Frank Strobel, took place on 16 October 2003, accompanied by a showing of the film at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Strobel conducted the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Ernst Senff Chor, with mezzo-soprano Marina Domashenko as soloist.[4]
The Russian premiere of the restored film score took place on 27 November 2004 at the Bolshoi Theatre.
Alexander Nevsky, cantata, Op. 78 (1939)[edit]
Composition history[edit]
The great popularity of Eisenstein's film, which was released on 1 December 1938, may have prompted Prokofiev to create a concert version of the music in the winter of 1938–39. He condensed the 27 film score cues into a seven-movement cantata for contralto, chorus and orchestra lasting approximately 40 minutes.[5] It is structured as follows:
Versions by other hands[edit]
Film score reconstruction by William Brohn (1987)[edit]
Composition history
In 1987, orchestrator William Brohn created a version of Alexander Nevsky that could replace the widely derided original soundtrack in showings of the film accompanied by a live symphony orchestra. Producer John Goberman provides the following details concerning the genesis of the Brohn version:
At the time the Brohn version was written, Prokofiev's original manuscripts of the film score were unavailable for study. Brohn transcribed the score, using the orchestration of the cantata as a model. Music not present in the cantata was transcribed by ear from the film. With special attention paid to tempos, a 1993 recording of this version was matched to a new edition of the film, which was released in 1995.
Although the Brohn version is not technically the film score as composed by Prokofiev, it is a brilliantly successful substitute for the original soundtrack for live performances by a full symphony orchestra accompanying showings of the film. There is little in the arrangement that is not by Prokofiev. However, it is more accurate to say that this arrangement is a "hybrid" of the film score and the cantata, allowing the audience the opportunity to enjoy the film score cues using the expanded sound values of the cantata.
Performance history
The Brohn version premiered on 3 November 1987 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. André Previn conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, with soloist Christine Cairns (mezzo-soprano).
Instrumentation
Notes
Sources