Ivan the Terrible (Prokofiev)

History

Composition history

Performance history

Publication history

• 1958, 'Songs and Choruses from the Music for the Film Ivan the Terrible', vocal scores, published by Levon Atovmyan in the magazine Sovetskaya Muzyka; the six numbers included:

1. 'The Black Cloud'
2. 'Ocean-Sea'
3. 'Song of Praise'
4. 'The Swan'
5. 'The Cannoneers'
6. 'Song about the Beaver'

• 1960, 'Songs and Choruses from Cantatas, Oratorios, and Films', published by Levon Atovmyan, vocal scores, Sovetskiy Kompozitor; the numbers from Ivan the Terrible included:

1. 'The Oath of the Oprichniki'
2. 'Song of Fyodor Basmanov and the Oprichniki'
3. 'Song of the Oprichniki'

• 1997, Ivan the Terrible, manuscript film score, full score, edition by Marina Rakhmanova and Irina Medvedeva, Musikverlage Hans Sikorski, Hamburg
• 2016, Ivan the Terrible, soundtrack film score, full score, edition by Frank Strobel, Musikverlage Hans Sikorski, Hamburg

  Scoring and instrumentation

• Strings: violins I & II, violas, cellos, double basses
• Woodwinds: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, english horn, 3 clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, 4 bassoons, contrabassoon
• Brass: 5 horns, 5 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas
• Percussion: timpani, bass drum, snare drum, triangle, tambourine, cymbals, tam-tam, bells, church bells, glockenspiel, xylophone, wood block, whip
• Other: piano, harp

  Manuscript numbers

• The first half of the 'Overture' is the orchestral 'A Storm Approaches', which is used very liberally in both films as a leitmotiv; the second half is the chorus 'The Black Cloud', which is used only at the beginning of each film as part of the overture.
• The first part of 'The Death of Glinskaya' accompanies, in the second film, the flashback of the poisoning of the 8-year-old-Ivan's mother; the second part is the chorus 'On the Bones of our Enemies'.
• The first half of 'Come Back!' depicts the people's chorus of supplication after Ivan's abdication; the second half is the 'Finale', which concludes both films.

  Film score cues

Ivan the Terrible (Part 1, 1944)

Ivan the Terrible: The Boyar Conspiracy (Part 2, 1946)

Themes

1. 'Overture'
2. 'Ivan's Tent'
3. 'Ivan at Anastasiya's Coffin'
4. 'Come Back!'

Versions by other hands

Oratorio by Levon Atovmyan (1961)

• Strings: violins I & II, violas, cellos, double basses
• Woodwinds: 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, english horn, 2 clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon
• Brass: 4 horns, 5 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba
• Percussion: timpani, piccolo timpani, bass drum, snare drum, triangle, tambourine, cymbals, tam-tam, bells, xylophone, wood block, whip
• Other: piano, celesta, 2 harps

  Oratorio by Abram Stasevich (1961)

"Without adding material of his own or making changes to the composer's manuscript, A. Stasevich approached the music for the film in a creative manner turning it into an oratorio consisting of 20 numbers. By repeating certain episodes and sections, and by linking them in a variety of ways, Stasevich was able to turn the various parts of this substantial work into self-contained numbers. In order to comply with the dictates of musical logic, he did not always adhere strictly to the order of the musical episodes prescribed by the plot. Thus certain episodes were transformed into tripartite structures, and others expanded to become rather large movements. Certain changes were also made to the orchestration, and certain instrumental lines were reinforced... Stasevich also added another formal determinant in the shape of a speaker."

• 1962, Ivan the Terrible, oratorio by Abram Stasevich, vocal score, Sovetskiy Kompozitor, Moscow
• 1972, Ivan the Terrible, oratorio by Stasevich, full score, Sovetskiy Kompozitor, Moscow

• Strings: violins I & II, violas, cellos, double basses
• Woodwinds: 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 5 clarinets, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, 4 bassoons
• Brass: 4 horns, 5 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas
• Percussion: timpani, bass drum, snare drum, triangle, tambourine, cymbals, tam-tam, church bells, glockenspiel, xylophone, wood block, metal bar, whip
• Other: piano, 2 gusli, 2 harps

  Ballet by Mikhail Chulaki (1975)

Oratorio by Michael Lankester (1988)

Concert Scenario by Christopher Palmer (1991)

"...in 1962 Abram Stasevich, who had conducted Ivan for the film soundtrack, published his Ivan the Terrible 'oratorio' for speaker, soloists, chorus and orchestra which incorporated all the major musical sequences in the film plus a few that had been left out. It is in this form that the Ivan music has been known outside the film ever since, and in this form that critics have tended to find it long and diffuse. The main problem is the speaker, introduced by Stasevich primarily because he had been unwise enough to try and incorporate a large number of short fragmentary episodes, and had to find a way of stitching them together. Unfortunately once the speaker was in, he seemed to take over the entire work—much to its detriment in terms of narrative intelligibility and tightness of structure. My new 'performing version' eliminates the speaker and shorter sections. It also restores a number of episodes to their original format, most importantly the assassination of the Pretender in Part II—the climax of the film and one of the most electrifying moments in film music. While retaining Stasevich's make-up of most of the larger movements, I have reverted largely to the film's original sequence of musical events."

Recordings

Audio

Video