The Scythian Suite, Op. 20 is an orchestral suite by Sergei Prokofiev written in 1915.
Background Prokofiev originally wrote the music for the ballet Ala i Lolli, the story of which takes place among the Scythians. Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, the ballet was written to a scenario by Russian poet Sergey Gorodetsky.Prokofiev, Sergei. "Autobiography" in Soviet Diary 1927 and Other Writings: p. 249-50. But when Diaghilev rejected the score even before its completion,Prokofiev "Autobiography": p. 251 the composer reworked the music into a suite for concert performance.Prokofiev "Autobiography": p. 252-53
The suite was premiered on at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, conducted by the composer.Prokofiev Diaries 1915-1923: p. 74
A scheduled Moscow performance of the suite that December was cancelled at the last minute due to the difficulty of finding musicians to play the piece;Prokofiev Diaries 1915-1923: p. 172 it called for an enlarged orchestra and, as many performers had been mobilized due to World War I, enough players could not be found. Nevertheless, the Moscow music critic Leonid Sabaneyev gave the music a scathing review.Prokofiev "Autobiography": p. 256-57 Prokofiev responded that the supposed performance must have been a product of Sabaneyev's imagination, as the only copy of the score was in the composer's hands and thus he had not even been able to see it.
Movements The suite is in four movements and lasts around 20 minutes.
Instrumentation The music is scored for a large orchestra:
Woodwinds piccolo
3 oboes cor anglais
bass clarinet 3 bassoons contrabassoon Brass 8 horns
4 trombones tuba
Percussion
timpani
glockenspiel xylophone 2 cymbals tamtam triangle bass drum snare drum tambourine
Keyboards celesta piano Strings 2 harps violins I, II violas cellos double basses
Adaptations The Bermuda Triangle (1978) is an electronic adaptation by Isao Tomita that includes the first movement (The Adoration of Veles and Ala) of the Scythian Suite.
The track "The Enemy God Dances with the Black Spirits" on Works Volume 1 by progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer is an arrangement of the second movement.
The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, performed the piece during Metallica's S&M2 concerts at Chase Center, San Francisco on September 6 and 8, 2019.
Notes
References David Ewen. Encyclopedia of Concert Music. New York: Hill and Wang, 1959. Nicolas Slonimsky. Slonimsky's Book of Musical Anecdotes. New York: Schirmer Books, 1998. Sergei Prokofiev. Soviet Diary 1927 and Other Writings. London: Faber, 1991. Sergei Prokofiev. Diaries 1915-1923: Behind the Mask, trans. Anthony Phillips. London: Faber, 2008. External links