Sergei Prokofiev - Symphony 6 in E-flat Minor, Op. 111 (Score and Analysis): Movement III. Vivace

III. Vivace (E-flat major)
Form: Rondo-sonata with a mirrored recapitulation and extended coda. (ABACBA-Coda)

EXPOSITION:
The primary theme group (refrain) is written in a three-part form (a1, a2, a1).
Refrain (A). E-flat major:
00:00 m.1. Theme a1 is a dance-like melody, naïve and gracious. It is reminiscent of Prokofiev’s “Classical” symphony and bears an impetuous festive image.
00:19 r.2. Theme a1 finishes with a bass fanfare.
00:24 r.3. Theme a2. First phrase.
00:31 r.4. Theme a2. Second phrase.
00:40 r.5. Theme a1.
00:49 r.6. Theme a1 extension.
01:06 r.8. Theme a1 fanfares extension.
01:17 r.9. Transition theme
Episode (B). C major:
01:40 r.11. Episode theme is filled with humour. Woodwinds state a playful melody which is constantly interrupted by Tuba ridiculously mimicking the theme. Energic marching procession accompanies the theme. Later it is laid out in a contrasting opposition of string and woodwinds, supported by timpani.
Refrain (A). E-flat major. Now in mirrored binary form (a2, a1):
02:48 r.17. Theme a2 is enriched with a singing counterpoint of soloing woodwinds in augmentation.
03:21 r.19. Theme a1. Extended.

DEVELOPMENT (C):
04:07 r.25. Scherzo refrain theme is torn in fragments and sounds menacingly. Rapid key changes a tritone and minor second apart (E-flat major - A major - E-flat major - E major). Asymmetrical recitative pulse.
04:56 r.31. Syncopated accompaniment of the Episode has a sharpened sound.
05:09 r.32. Theme a2 also sounds anxiously and menacingly. A lively singing melody in exposition turns into a dry and rapid figure, played by the piano, pizzicato strings and French horns con surdine playing along with cor anglais.
05:19 r.33. Transition theme.
05:28 r.34. Dark clouds gather around the episode as well. The melody sounds lonely without any sign of a jokingly tuba imitations. Accompanied by unsteady tonal shifts that create a polytonal relationship between melody and accompaniment, drum thuds... Nervous string glissando emphasize the bizarre, unsettling nature of the development section. And now the melody of the first episode, so cheerful in the exposition, acquires a lyrical-dramatic character, is intoned in a tense sound strings against the background of melodious chromatic passages wooden and piano at r.36. Separate clearly divided phrases of the theme merge into a single, continuously developing melodic line, forming extended construction (G-flat major).
06:13 r.39. Here comes the subsequent brightly contrasting contrapuntal connection of the dramatic and reincarnated melody of the episode, which in the process of development reached a powerful, militant sound (four French horns with a trumpet) and inescapably cheerful, graceful, “smiling” scherzo refrain theme (strings).

RECAPITULATION
In the movement the line between the development and the reprise has blurred, and it is debatable that r.39 belongs to both development and recap.
06:13 r.39. Episode (B). Stated in B-flat major, a dominant key of the movement. Recapitulation does not consolidate the music in terms of image and tonality. Reprise is thematically disconnected since Episode did not succumb to the tonic key.
Refrain (A):
06:52 r.43. Theme a1. The final, culminating holistic performance of the refrain restores the jubilant, festive the nature of the music. In blinding sound strings and wood, the scherzo melody of the refrain is repeated, combined with individual phrases of its melodious march tune, chanted loudly and clearly.
07:11 r.45. Theme a2. Further on, the second theme of the refrain passes in augmentation by four french horns, picked up by strings. Various phrases of this proud melody are combined polyphonically, the diatonic basis of the melody is emphasized.
07:37 r.47. Theme a1. The festive revival abruptly ends. Marching refrain rhythms again, as in development, acquire a menacingly disturbing color.
08:12 r.50. Rapid, impulsive movement gradually inhibits, freezes.

CODA. E-flat minor:
08:53 r.53. In the first section of the coda (Andante tenero) in its original form returns the "melody-lament" secondary theme of movement I.
10:15 r.56. A pathetique culmination suddenly arises: the melodic turns and harmonies of the second theme of the final refrain (r.4) are suddenly and very sharply modified, acquiring a tragic “mournful-triumphant” character. This unexpected transformation highlights the full danger of the new brutal threat. The past must not be repeated, the world must not be allowed to be flooded with the blood of new victims!
10:45 r.57. The second, final section of the coda (Vivace, come prima) is very concise. The offensive strong-willed marching rhythms of the refrain sound again, alternating with swift descending chromatic phrases of strings. The section is synthesized of intonations of 1st movement's “invasion” and “the road to cavalry” themes and the finale’s refrain.

Видео Sergei Prokofiev - Symphony 6 in E-flat Minor, Op. 111 (Score and Analysis): Movement III. Vivace канала Arne Korpen