Prokofiev: Quintet. Op.39. Rachel Bullen,Ron Chen-Zion,Sini Simonen,Michel Camille,Valur Palsson

Quintet, Op. 39 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
For Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Bass
Tema (Moderato) - Variation I - Variation II
Andante energico
Allegro sostenuto, me con brio
Adagio pesante
Allegro precipitato, ma non troppo presto
Andantino
“In order to earn some extra money while writing the Symphony,” Prokofiev noted, “I accepted a commission [in July 1924] to compose a ballet for a roving dance troupe which wished to present a program of several short pieces accompanied by five instruments. I proposed a quintet consisting of oboe clarinet, violin, viola, and double bass. The simple plot based on circus life, was titled Trapeze.” Boris Romanov, who toured Trapeze through Germany and Italy until 1925, when that work fell into obscurity, ran this ballet company. Due to the alternating 5/4 and 10/8 bars of the third movement of this suite version (the composer writing a simplified version in the score), the score proved too difficult for Romanov’s choreography to work, and Prokofieff eventually reworked the unpublished score into this 6-movement suite for the original instrumentation.

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Well played! Bravo!