Sergei Prokofiev - Op.125 Sinfonia-Concertante for Cello and Orchestra (1950-2) (Score, Analysis)

Симфония-концерт для виолончели с оркестром/Symphony-Concert for cello and orchestra
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Сергей Сергеевич Прокофьев/Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev) (1891-1953) was a Russian/Soviet composer, pianist, and conductor. His works range from piano sonatas to operas, and he is regarded as one of the most important composers of the 20th century.
The Sinfonia-concertante is one of Prokofiev’s final works, and it is a heavily revised version of the Cello concerto (Op.58). The Russian title is Symphony-Concerto, but it is more commonly referred to as Sinfonia Concertante. The composition started around the time of cello sonata, as a reworking of the cello concerto. The premiere of that piece was disastrous, and even though the performance in Boston in 1940 was very successful, the composer was not satisfied with it.
During the composition, Mstislav Rostropovich, the work’s dedicatee, took an active role in refining the cello part. The premiere was on 18 February 1952 in Moscow, with Rostropovich as soloist and Sviatoslav Richter as conductor (his only appearance as a conductor). It was presented as “Cello Concerto No.2”. Afterwards, it was slightly revised and retitled as Symphony-Concerto. Prokofiev died before this final version was performed, which occurred on 9 December 1954 with Rostropovich as soloist, accompanied by the Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Thomas Jensen.
It is scored for two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, tambourine, triangle, bass drum, snare drum, celesta, and strings.
The general structure is similar to the original cello concerto, but expanded.
(0:00) Mov.1 Andante - Introductory fanfare
(0:18) Solo
(1:53) Second theme
(4:02) Middle section, with much modulations
(6:09) Climax
(6:31) Outer section, with the orchestra stating the introduction theme over the soloist’s brillant passage
(7:24) Full return
(8:00) Climax
(8:16) Second theme
(10:11) Mov.2 Allegro giusto - Introduction
(10:14) Solo’s cadenza
(10:40) T1
(11:37) Transition
(11:49) Ironic transition. This motif comes up quite often, more than it did in the original.
(12:25) T2
(13:45) I’m sorry for the scanning quality here. I don’t know why this happened, since it happened only on the 2 pages around here.
(15:40) Transition
(16:19) The development starts with a cadenza.
(18:15) Orchestra joins in (with modulation)
(18:30) Notice the bassoon here. The transition theme mentioned earlier appears like this over the T1
(19:15) New episode (T2 combined with transition themes)
(21:42) New episode, with soloist’s scales
(22:09) Climax (sounds like based on the transition). At this point, it might be better to call the transition as T1-2.
(22:30) Recapitulation
(23:05) Transition
(23:35) T2
(24:27) Transition
(25:54) Coda, starting with the soloist’s brillant passage
(26:04) Climax
(26:54) Mov.3 Andante con moto
(27:57) Var.1 - Trumpet with theme, over arpeggio
(28:43) Cadenza
(29:04) Var.2 - Lighter
(29:17) Var.3 - similar to Var.1
(29:37) Var.4 - more lyrical
(29:52) Var.5 - With harmonics and chromaticism
(30:11) Middle section (Second theme). A waltz-like, yet ironic theme. Apparently, the second theme originally contained a distorted quote from a song by one of Prokofiev’s persecutors, Vladimir Zakharov, titled “И кто его знает, чего он моргает”. At the preliminary screening of the piece, Zakharov identified this and Prokofiev was forced to replace this with his own waltz-like theme.
(31:14) T2 Var
(31:35) Var.6
(31:48) Var.7, with fluorish
(32:23) Var.8
(33:36) Var.9, light and lyrical
(34:19) Var.10, with rapid arpeggios
(34:44) Var.11, A slow and solemn variation.
(35:36) A dramatic coda, with passages reminiscent of the transition theme from the second movement.
Source: English/Russian Wikipedia, original research
Recording by Han-na Chang, Antonio Pappano, London Symphony Orchestra
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