Description
The Classical Symphony was the first symphony written by the Russian composer Prokofiev (1891-1953). Whilst contemporary audiences would have expected a symphony to be a large-scale, emotionally wrought work, Prokofiev turned away from this convention for his symphony. In his autobiography, Prokofiev wrote: “It seemed to me that if Haydn had lived in our day he would have retained his own style while accepting something of the new at the same time. That’s the kind of symphony I wanted to compose. When I saw that the idea was beginning to work, I called it ‘Classical Symphony’… out of naughtiness and a desire to ‘tease the geese’ ”.
Following the structure of its 18th century prototype, Prokofiev’s work has four movements:
- A snappy Allegro in a textbook-style sonata form
- A lyrical Larghetto
- A wayward but courtly Gavotte (replacing the usual Minuet and Trio)
- A joyous Molto vivace rondo finale (which avoids any minor chords!)
Throughout the symphony’s succinct 15 minutes Prokofiev cleverly combines 18th century verve with his own daring musical language as he revels in unexpected modern harmonies, rhythms and orchestral colours. With its elegance, wit, charm, playfulness and joie de vivre the Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony has remained one of his most popular works.
My most ambitious wind quintet arrangement to date – it is a challenging, but most rewarding piece to play.
