Sergei Prokofiev:
Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 3, Op. 101 (with Score)
Composed: 1946
Conductor: Neeme Järvi
Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra
0:00 I. Romeo at the Fountain (Ромео у фонтана)
1:55 II. Morning Dance (Утренний танец)
4:22 III. Juliet (Джульетта)
8:59 IV. The Nurse (Кормилица)
11:12 V. Morning Serenade (Утренняя серенада)
13:27 VI. The Death of Juliet (Смерть Джульетты)
While Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet ballet and the first two suites and Ten Pieces for Piano derived from it are immensely popular, the Third Suite has been generally neglected. Perhaps its late appearance in 1946, ten years after the other music was written, doomed it to become the black sheep of the family. But its shorter length-six movements lasting just under twenty minutes-may make it seem less consequential alongside bigger siblings.
The first of the Third Suite's movements is Romeo at the Fountain, which combines the opening motif from the ballet's Introduction, the one dominant and often-recurring theme throughout the work, with the second number, Romeo. The music is pensive and has an air of nonchalance. It is the briefest item here, lasting just under two minutes. The second movement, Morning Dance, is taken from the First Act's No. 4, which bears the same name. It is jovial and boisterous in the outer sections, and mysterious and exotic in the middle part, with those typically Prokofievian swirling strings. The composer tacked on a few chords at the close to avoid the abrupt ending in the ballet.
The next movement is Juliet, which combines music, once more, from more than one section. Here, Prokofiev draws on Nos. 14, Juliet's Variation in the First Act, and 29 in the Second, Juliet at Friar Laurence's. The music is mostly subtle, probing the young girl's feelings and her great dilemma. This is far from the most emotionally powerful writing in the score, but it effectively conveys a deeper side to Juliet's character. The following section, The Nurse also unites music from two different numbers in the ballet-Nos. 9, Preparations for the ball, and 26, The Nurse. Again, the music is subdued, though its humor and playfulness come across convincingly.
Aubade corresponds to No. 48 in the ballet, Morning Serenade. Here the music is bright and lively but also delicate throughout, featuring a mandolin and other solo instruments that scurry about in the merriment. There is not the least hint in this section of the tragedy that will shortly come. The last movement, The Death of Juliet, is taken from the ballet's similarly-named last number. Prokofiev makes some minor changes in the opening here, then goes on to offer some of his most heartrending music. The notes yearn and cry and attempt consolation, but we are left with emptiness. The theme is beautiful and profoundly sad, seeming to soar one moment, then to descend the next. The Suite ends quietly, with fragments of the melody struggling on and then fading.
Prokofiev published this Suite in 1949.