Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Prokofiev's Schubert-Waltz Suite

This is a postscript to yesterday's post about Liszt's Soirées de Vienne. In the early twentieth century, Prokofiev strung together several Schubert waltzes to make a concert encore piece. Although decidedly less imaginative than Liszt's compositions, Prokofiev's suite does reposition and reinterpret (often by changing keys) a total of 15 waltzes: D145,waltzes ns9,10; D146n3, trio I; D365n31; D734ns2,14; D779ns3,10,12; D783n1 (=D790n2); D790ns3,5,6; D969ns5,7.

The formal groupings (represented by dividers in the table below) rely mainly on reprises, but there is also some attention to key relations. Note, finally, that D779n13 is not included in the suite, although it might easily have been inserted at bar 41 or 194 in its original key, or several other places in transposition.

Prokofiev, Waltzes by Schubert

m. #

source

key(s)

1*

D969n5

a-e
25 D969n7, contrasting middle e
33* D969n5 -- reprise a-e (final chord: E)
41 D146n3, trio I A
75 D734n2 D-A
91* D969n5 -- reprise a-e


99

D790n6

g#
123 D790n3 D
155
D790n5
b
179
D790n3 -- reprise

D

187*

D969n5 -- reprise

a-e (final chord: E)
194D783n1 (=D790n2)A
218*
D969n5 -- reprise

a-e

226

D145-waltzes,n9

a
258
D365n31
C
278
D779n10
G
304
D779n3
G
330
D734n14
C
346
D145-waltzes,n9 -- reprise
e
362
D365n31 --reprise

C

372*

D969n5 -- reprise

a-e
396
D779n12
C – g#-b-D
436
D145,waltzes n10
b
460
D779n12, second strain
b-D-d-F
476*
D969n5 -- reprise

a-e
Update 2-20-10: Here is a link to a performance file on YouTube: this is Frederic Chiu's recording. I'm not sure why it is on YouTube or how long it will stay.