Russian Overture

Russian Overture
Overture by Sergei Prokofiev
File:Sergey Prokofyev.jpg Prokofiev in 1945
Catalogue	Op. 72
Composed	1936
Performed	1936 (1936)
Scoring	large orchestra

Russian Overture, Op. 72, (Russian: Ру́сская увертю́ра, IPA: [rˈuskəjə ʊvʲɪrtʲˈʉrə]) is an overture composed in 1936 by Sergei Prokofiev.

1936 was the year that Prokofiev returned permanently to the USSR. He showed sketches of the overture to Szenkar, who accepted it for his orchestra. Prokofiev used a large orchestra, as he had previously in the Scythian Suite and Seven, They are Seven. The overture was completed on 25 September 1936 and premiered on 29 October in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory by Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Eugen Szenkar, who subsequently performed it in Paris and elsewhere in Europe. After the premiere, Prokofiev reorchestrated the piece on the advice of Szenkar, reducing the number of brass, woodwind and percussion players. On 15 October 1937, it was given its American premiere by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky. According to Prokofiev's biographer, Simon Morrison, the overture "includes motives derived from Russian folkdance, salon song and liturgical chant."

External links

• Ouverture Russe: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project