English Commentary by Sergio Cánovas

 Prokofiev’s Symphony No.7 was composed between December 1951 and July 1952, less than a year before his death by hypertensive crisis. It was written for the Soviet Children’s Radio Division, thus is simpler character and more accessible style, being sometimes described as «Children’s Symphony». The work was premiered in Moscow on October 11 of 1952, performed by the All-Union Radio Orchestra conducted by Samuil Samosud. Despite the apparent simplicity of the music and its adhesion to the socialist realism aesthetic, there is nothing childish nor superficial about the work. Most of the symphony can be described as emotionally restrained, nostalgic and melancholic in mood.

Sometime between 1952-3, Prokofiev was persuaded by the conductor to revise the finale with the addition of an energetic and optimistic coda. The composer was deeply in debt and hoped he would win a Stalin Prize (worth then 100,000 rubles), which would restore his finances. Also a programmatic content was suggested on the theme of Soviet youth, but these changes weren’t enough to earn the prize. Only in 1957, four years after Prokofiev’s death, the symphony was awarded the Lenin Prize. Before he died, Prokofiev indicated that the original quiet ending was to be preferred. The symphony was somewhat divisive later on, some critics found its simplicity and lyricism deeply moving, while others considered it a pale echo of Prokofiev’s earlier symphonic achievements.

The success Prokofiev enjoyed during the war was short-lived. As the patriotic fervour waned, tight governmental control of the arts returned with an iron fist. Four months later in 1948, a devastating and fierce anti-formalist campaign was launched against some of then most prominent soviet composers like Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Kachaturian or Myaskovsky. Prokofiev’s career never truly recovered from such campaign; many of his works were banned and the new compositions, written to appease soviet authorities failed to relaunch his career. By August 1948, Prokofiev was in severe financial straits, his personal debt amounting to 180,000 rubles. He felt himself bound to produce hack-work to please again the political authorities that dominated official Soviet music.

Prokofiev’s health was also on the decline; on January 1945 he had suffered a concussion after fainting in his apartment due to untreated chronic hypertension. He didn’t fully recover from the accident, and following medical advice, he substantially had to restrict his composing activity. The last eight years of his life were those of an invalid, and he suffered almost constant headaches. The doctors could only suggest rest: he was to avoid all excitement, there was to be no reading, chess, alcohol or cigarettes and above all no composition: an impossible order, since he protested that he couldn’t help composing in his head. The death of close friends such as Boris Asafiev or Nikolai Myaskovsky also deeply affected him.

The opening Moderato is typical of Prokofiev in its distinctive take on sonata form, texture and harmony. It begins with a sombre piano chord, over which upper strings unfold a wistful theme to which woodwind and lower strings respond in more animated terms. This is repeated in altered guise as transition into the second main theme, set out in eloquent terms by woodwind and lower strings, with a whimsical codetta from flutes and glockenspiel. The development proceeds haltingly on strings and brass, both themes again being heard, along with the codetta now underpinned by subtle shifts in harmony and orchestration. This leads into a reprise that proceeds largely unaltered, but is thrown into relief by a fleeting return of the first theme in a bittersweet coda, the home key being reaffirmed in the deftest of terms.

The Allegretto which follows is an intriguing conflation of scherzo, intermezzo and waltz. It opens with a suave idea on strings and woodwind that quickly gains in energy and humour before launching into a graceful melody given mainly to the violins. This reaches a climax that sounds a more ominous tone, before subsiding into an ambivalent theme for strings and woodwind. The suave idea duly reappears and the music proceeds much as before, though with subtle changes in orchestration and a greater impetus through to the final return of the idea. Without warning, the music plunges into a coda in which the underlying waltz rhythm is transformed into a gallop that brings about the hectic conclusion; the whole confirming Prokofiev’s formal ingenuity even with the most unassuming material.

The Andante espressivo centres on a melody of disarming simplicity, strings and woodwind exchanging gestures in a mood of wistful recollection. A subsidiary theme is little more than a complement to the foregoing, but the middle section features a piquant idea for oboe over lower strings that soon takes on a more nonchalant manner. The return of the main melody is taken by full strings, woodwind sounding a questioning tone before the theme’s last return is marked by notably felicitous touches from harp and piano, before a close of winsome poise.

The Vivace finale launches with animated gestures on strings and woodwind, heading into a capering theme in which upper and lower strings exchange phrases, and are complemented by an imperious idea for brass and percussion. A sudden transition slows things appreciably, out of which stealthy piano chords initiate a genial march-like theme shared between woodwind and strings. This builds to a lively climax, before the capering theme is recalled in curtailed form prior to a further steadying transition. From here the music heads with mounting anticipation towards a broad restatement of the eloquent theme from the first movement, now heard twice and followed by the whimsical codetta whose final phrase is extended into an evocative coda. This gradually winds down on woodwind and brass to the quietly conclusive pizzicato chord.

Picture: «Couple» (1966) by the Russian painter Viktor Popkov.

Sources: https://tinyurl.com/2c9xohar and https://tinyurl.com/26cb7ucl To check the score: https://tinyurl.com/2chr8rhn