Zdravitsa (Prokofiev)

"Zdravitsa" (literally "A Toast!"), Op. 85, is a cantata written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1939.

Background

Ever since Prokofiev returned to the Soviet Union, he might have been viewed as a suspect in the eyes of the Stalinist regime. Indeed, numerous Soviet artists had already been arrested or even executed for creating art that was deemed too 'formalistic' by Soviet officials. Prokofiev certainly had to write something to secure his survival, and came up with "Zdravitsa" to celebrate Stalin's 60th birthday.

"Zdravitsa", in Prokofiev's broad, lyrical vein, contains music that would certainly have fit into his ballet "Romeo and Juliet". However, the work has been deliberately and unjustly neglected for its pro-Stalinist sentiments. The quirky harmonies and rhythms in the quicker parts of the cantata makes one wonder about Prokofiev's sincerity in praising the Communist leader. Regardless of Prokofiev's true political feelings, this cantata, along with many other neglected political works (e.g. "Flourish, Mighty Land" and "The Meeting of the Volga and the Don"), contains much first-rate Prokofiev which deserves to played more often.

Lasting around 12 minutes, the cantata is in one continuous movement. The lyrics are collected from folk-political songs.

Analysis

The cantata opens with a sighing motif on trumpets, after which the strings play an expansive, flowing melody in C major. The choir suddenly intrudes (singing loudly "There never was such joy - the entire village is full of it"), and the music picks up speed. The choir slips cheekily into distant keys now and then. Faster staccato sections continue to alternate with slower flowing sections.

Of special interest is the last section, where the choir races up and down a C major scale (spanning more than two octaves), rather like a child practicing piano scales. The orchestra provides alternating G and A-flat pedal notes. The cantata ends in a blazing C major, a favourite key of Prokofiev (cf. Piano Concerto No. 3, "Russian Overture", and Symphony No. 4 (revised version)).

Orchestration

:Piccolo:2 Flutes:2 Oboes:English Horn:2 Clarinets:Bass Clarinet:2 Bassoons:Contrabassoon:4 Horns:3 Trumpets:3 Trombones:Tuba:Timpani:Percussion (Woodblocks, Snare Drum, Tambourine, Triangle, Cymbals, Bass Drum, Tam-tam, Xylophone, Tubular Bells):Harp:Piano:Strings

:Chorus

Premiere

The cantata premiered on 21 December 1939 in Moscow, conducted by Nikolai Golovanov.

Recordings

External links

* [http://tempfile.ru/download/9791f233b1a17262d12b39aa48fb6686 1962 recording of "Zdravitsa"] , Yevgeny Svetlanov (conductor) and the USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra & Chorus