The Queen of Spades (Prokofiev)

The Queen of Spades
by Sergei Prokofiev
Aleksandr Pushkin and his horse, graffiti, Kharkiv, 2008
Catalogue	Op. 70
Composed	1936
Movements	24

The Queen of Spades (Russian: Пиковая Дама, Pikovaya Dama), Op. 70, is the score composed by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 for the planned but unrealized film by Mikhail Romm. The film was to be based on the short story The Queen of Spades (1833) by Alexander Pushkin, and was intended for release in 1937, the centenary of Pushkin's death.^[1] It is one of Prokofiev's least known pieces.^[2]

Background

The Queen of Spades was originally intended to released the centenary of Pushkin's death. However, the film was never finished, due to the tightening censorship in the USSR.^[3][4] Having signed a contract dated 29 May 1936, Prokofiev finished the piano score by 12 July, before sending it to his assistant, Pavel Lamm. When Prokofiev first played the piano reduction for Ramm, Ramm noted that it was neither lyrical nor dramatic, but "three and then seven pitches repeated endlessly," which added to the films "aridity," as well as conveying a sense of obsession and schizophrenia.^[5]

The 14-page piano reduction manuscript is preserved at the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, in Moscow.^[6]

Prokofiev reused music from The Queen of Spades in the third movement of his fifth symphony,^[7] as well as in his Piano Sonata No. 8.^[8] Additional reworkings of the score have been composed by Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Michael Berkeley.^[1]

Structure

The typical performance duration is approximately 43 minutes.

Instrumentation

The Queen of Spades is scored for two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, piano, and strings.

Movements

1. Overture
2. Wandering About
3. Herman in Front of the Countess's House
4. Liza
5. Herman at Home
6. Morning
7. Herman Spots Liza
8. Herman Delivers a Letter to Liza
9. Liza Reads the Letter
10. Liza Daydreams and Writes an Answer
11. Liza Goes Out with a Letter to Herman
12. Herman Reads the Letter; Herman in Front of the Countess's House
13. Herman in Liza's Room
14. The Ball
15. Liza in Her Room
16. Herman with Playing Cards
17. Visiting the Countess
18. Herman Takes Notes, Puts them into His Pocket, Enters the Gambling Parlour^{[note 1]}
19. First Winnings
20. Herman Enters the Gambling Parlour for the Second Time^{[note 2]}
21. Second Winnings
22. Herman Enters the Gambling Parlour for the Third Time
23. Herman Has Lost
24. Last Rendezvous

Notes

1. In the margin above the first piano score, Prokofiev wrote: "If the excerpt is too long, a cut can be made in the middle, at measures 17-24, for example."
2. Prokofiev wrote: "I think the music should end when Herman takes the glass of lemonade—or earlier—so that there will be a sufficient break before his next appearance."

References

1. Ashley, Tim. "Prokofiev: The Queen of Spades (arr. Berkeley); etc". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
2. Bartig, Kevin (2013). Composing for the Red Screen: Prokofiev and Soviet Film. Oxford University Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780199968060.
3. Cummings, Robert. "Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades), film score, Op. 70". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
4. Nice, David. "Prokofiev: On Guard for Peace; Symphonic Suite adapted from The Queen of Spades (Premiere Recording) arr. Michael Berkeley" (PDF). Chandos Records. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
5. Morrison, Simon (2008). The People's Artist : Prokofiev's Soviet Years. Oxford University Press. pp. 133–141. ISBN 9780199720514.
6. Bartig, p. 46.
7. Keller, James M. "Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Opus 100". San Francisco Symphony. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
8. Lacoste, Steve. "Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat, Op. 84". LA Phil. Retrieved 8 March 2016.