Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 59 views

    Prokofiev Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Devin Matthews
    1) Prokofiev's "March" from The Love of Three Oranges uses an ABACA rondo form and features a main melody introduced by the oboe that has an intentionally weak and comical sound due to its harmonies. 2) The texture and orchestration builds throughout the piece, with the melody becoming more prominent and powerful with each repetition in different sections. 3) Two simple but prevalent rhythmic motives - two sixteenth notes on the upbeat and an eighth note followed by a sixteenth rest and note - provide rhythmic cohesion and give the piece its comic quality.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Prokofiev Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Devin Matthews
    59 views4 pages
    1) Prokofiev's "March" from The Love of Three Oranges uses an ABACA rondo form and features a main melody introduced by the oboe that has an intentionally weak and comical sound due to its harmonies. 2) The texture and orchestration builds throughout the piece, with the melody becoming more prominent and powerful with each repetition in different sections. 3) Two simple but prevalent rhythmic motives - two sixteenth notes on the upbeat and an eighth note followed by a sixteenth rest and note - provide rhythmic cohesion and give the piece its comic quality.

    Original Title

    Prokofiev analysis

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    1) Prokofiev's "March" from The Love of Three Oranges uses an ABACA rondo form and features a main melody introduced by the oboe that has an intentionally weak and comical sound due to its harmonies. 2) The texture and orchestration builds throughout the piece, with the melody becoming more prominent and powerful with each repetition in different sections. 3) Two simple but prevalent rhythmic motives - two sixteenth notes on the upbeat and an eighth note followed by a sixteenth rest and note - provide rhythmic cohesion and give the piece its comic quality.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    59 views4 pages

    Prokofiev Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Devin Matthews
    1) Prokofiev's "March" from The Love of Three Oranges uses an ABACA rondo form and features a main melody introduced by the oboe that has an intentionally weak and comical sound due to its harmonies. 2) The texture and orchestration builds throughout the piece, with the melody becoming more prominent and powerful with each repetition in different sections. 3) Two simple but prevalent rhythmic motives - two sixteenth notes on the upbeat and an eighth note followed by a sixteenth rest and note - provide rhythmic cohesion and give the piece its comic quality.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    Devin Matthews

    Dr. Bauer
    20th Century Music History
    Analytic Essay
    Prokofiev’s “March” from The Love of Three Oranges

    Sergei Prokofiev’s comic opera The Love of Three Oranges was composed in 1919 and

    premiered in Chicago in 1921. Although initially poorly received by audiences and critics alike,

    this opera is now a staple of the repertoire. Prokofiev later compiled an orchestral suite of six

    movements from the opera, of which the brief “March” is the third.

    The form of the “March” is quite straightforward and simple, in the rondo form of

    ABACA. Beginning with a blaring and dramatic two measure trumpet fanfare and drum roll, the

    oboe then caries the main melodic content in the first appearance of the A section (mm. 3-10).

    The melody in the first A section is very weak and reedy sounding, which matches the

    underlying “wrong note” harmonies for which Prokofiev is known. The overall effect is

    somewhat comical sounding. The melody continues through the eighth bar, at which point there

    is a dramatic and surprising two-measure conclusion to the A section.

    The B section begins at measure eleven. It is in contrast to the A section both

    rhythmically, melodically, and texturally, and ultimately builds to the return of the A section at

    the anacrusis to measure nineteen. The most prevalent instruments here are the trumpet and

    percussion. With the return of the A section, the melody has been greatly reinforced texturally

    and is carried most prominently by the trumpet section. Instead of sounding weak and comical,

    the melody is now much more powerful and grand.


    The C section begins on the anacrusis to measure twenty-six. Here the lower string

    section is most prominent, punctuated by sixteenth-note runs in higher registers (trumpet,

    violins). The C section ultimately builds to the final return of the A section on the anacrusis to

    measure thirty-five. Here, the melody returns at its most powerful, now at fortissimo. It is

    embellished with quick ascending and descending scales in groups of five, six, and seven, played

    by the flutes/piccolos. After the final statement of the A section, there is a four bar coda or

    codetta of fortissimo accented quarter-note chords which bring the “March” to a triumphant

    close.

    The pitch content of the A section is easily viewed as a melody with underlying chords

    which, moving chromatically and in a non-functional way, creates a somewhat bizarre and

    comical effect. For example, the trumpet fanfare at the opening creates the expectation for the

    following melody to be centered on the pitch D. However, the melody in the oboe begins a half

    step up, on Eb, and immediately displaces the listener’s expectation. The chords in the third

    measure go back and forth between Ab and clustered, dissonant chords (beat two, measure three:

    Ab, B, D, E, F). However, we are left with the tonal center of Ab for the melody, which shares a

    tritone relationship with the opening pitch of D.

    Although the rhythm in Prokofiev’s “March” is not particularly complex, it does serve as

    a cohesive element throughout the work. Perhaps the most prevalent and simple rhythmic

    motive is two sixteenth notes on the upbeat. This basic motive appears many times in all

    sections of the piece except the coda; it begins the piece in the trumpet fanfare, and then begins

    the melody on Eb in the oboes. It appears throughout B section, in staccato groups of sixteenth

    notes, and again in the C section in the sixteenth note melodies in higher registers (trumpets,

    violins) just before the final return of the A section.


    Another prevalent motive that is equally simple is an eighth note followed by a sixteenth

    note rest and a sixteenth note. This small figure is another integral part of the melody, and gives

    it its lilting, comic quality (for example, m. 4-6). Prokofiev weaves this motive into both the B

    and C sections as well. In the B section, it can be seen in measures thirteen and fourteen as well

    as measure seventeen. The C section is almost entirely based off this rhythmic figure. Carried

    most prominently in the string section, it continues from measure twenty-seven to the return of

    the A section, giving an uneven, lopsided marching feel to the music. The coda is the only part

    of the work that does not contain either of these two rhythmic figures, and is all the more of a

    surprising ending to the listener for its different character.

    The polyphonic texture of the “March” can generally be described as building and

    thickening throughout the piece, and growing towards the dramatic ending. The texture begins

    very thin, with the melody carried in the oboe—an instrument whose timbre in this case reflects

    the weak quality of the texture. With each return of the A section, the texture becomes more full,

    with the brass carrying the melody in the second A section; the texture is further thickened the

    last time with the addition of percussion and embellishing scales in the flutes and piccolo.

    The B and C sections provide interludes which vary not only melodically but texturally,

    each building towards the return of the A section. The B section continues the A section’s

    pattern of eighth note chords on the downbeat, but the other textural elements are shared between

    a number of instruments, most dominantly the percussion and trumpet sections. In the C section,

    the texture is most strongly defined by the lower string section playing the eighth note-sixteenth

    rest-sixteenth note figure, with overlying quick melodic figures in the higher registers.
    Prokofiev’s “March” from Love for Three Oranges is a fun, comical piece whose

    influence can be seen in many modern works. The composer’s unique style of chromaticism and

    use of “wrong note” harmonies give this work a distinct flavor, while his use of traditional form

    and development act as cohesive elements for this classic piece.

    You might also like