Prokofiev’s Fifth was composed in 1944 at a key turning point in history.
The Second World War was still being fought but the Allies were in the ascendancy and victory began to look assured. It is a work born of contradictory emotions: here was a composer relieved that the end of the war might be in sight yet deeply saddened by the events in his own country and the cruelties inflicted by the Stalinist regime.
Read on to find out more about this masterpiece which opens the 26-27 Kirklees Concert Season.
Featured in concert at Huddersfield Town Hall on Thursday 24 September conducted by Opera North Music Director, Garry Walker
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What’s the music like …?
This is the symphony for you if you love powerful cinematic music and want to leave on a high! Featuring some of the most remarkable orchestral writing of the twentieth century, powerful passages interweave with beautiful melodies while the four movements alternate between slow and fast tempi, suggesting the momentum of the war machine alongside the human cost.
The work opens relatively gently with the Andante – listen out in particular for the interplay between the wind and brass. The lively Allegro marcato follows. This scherzo (meaning ‘joke’) features some incredibly virtuosic playing by the clarinets while also introducing some folk inspired motifs. Next up is the dreamy lyricism of the Adagio with the beauty of the soaring violins and the poignancy of the oboe and bassoon reflecting the tragedy of lives lost during the war. After that, it’s time to get ready for the heady final movement which carries you to the end on a powerful wave of triumphant sound.
Listen to the music
Sergei Prokofiev, who rapidly achieved success with his music
Tell me more …
Sergei Prokofiev composed the Fifth Symphony in his early fifties, having returned to Russia from America eight years earlier lured by the possibilities offered by the newly created USSR. Unfortunately, this sense of potential was soon to be dashed as Stalin’s Great Purge gained momentum.
Penned in the safe haven of the “House of Rest and Creativity” provided in Ivanovo to keep the nation’s most prominent composers away from the country’s war-torn cities, it only took around a month to complete. The premiere was held in Moscow on the eve of Allied victory in Europe, with the start delayed due to the sound of celebratory cannon fire.
The Orchestra of Opera North performing at Huddersfield Town Hall. Photography by Tom Arber
Fun Facts
— Prokofiev conducted the premiere himself in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. This ended up being the last time he took to the podium, as he fell shortly afterwards leaving him with lasting health issues.
— It’s perhaps not all that surprising that the Fifth Symphony sounds like a movie score as Prokofiev did in fact compose music for films during his lifetime, notably the 1938 biographical drama Alexander Nevsky directed by Eisenstein. Part of this Fifth Symphony was used in the 1948 film The Iron Curtain with Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews.
— The ending to the symphony is open to interpretation. While relieved that the end of the war was at last in sight, Prokofiev was no Stalin fan. The work finishes on a triumphant note which sounds like a patriotic thumbs up to the Russian regime – but many people think it’s actually the composer asking the burning question, ‘what now’?
Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony is being performed in concert on Thursday 24 September with Sibelius’ Symphony No. 6 and Tchaikovsky’s ‘Variations on a Rococo Theme’.
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If this puts you in the mood for more, other symphonies to look out for with the Orchestra of Opera North this season include Brahms’ Third Symphony on 21 January 2027, Mozart’s ‘Linz’ Symphony paired with Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 on 22 April and Sibelius’ Second Symphony on 27 May.
