Uploaded November 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
- Composer: Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (23 April 1891 -- 5 March 1953)
- Orchestra: Academic Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg Philharmonic
- Conductor: Anton Lubchenko
- Year of recording: 2010 (?)
Festive poem "Meeting of the Volga and the Don" for orchestra Op. 130, written in 1951.
In the video: Stamp illustration of a lock on the Volga--Don Canal with motor ship "Joseph Stalin" (1953). Prokofiev wrote the 'festive' tone poem "The Meeting of the Volga and the Don" to celebrate the completion of the opening of a canal between the two Russian rivers the Volga and the Don, with the energetic assistance of cellist Rostropovich.
As a state commissioned work, one would expect a certain amount of banal melodies. Prokofiev, however, introduced some of his satiric/ironic nature into the music making it somewhat reminiscent of his early works, and especially of the cantate 'Zdravitsa' (see my upload of that piece for information). In this piece there is a hint as well of the composer making fun of state ceremonies.
The music is maybe not up to the standard of his symphonies but Prokofiev offers some expressive melodies, and the 'repeated' ending that never seems to end is priceless. Rostropovich recalls Prokofiev summoning him into his study after receiving medical treatment and playing "two themes from the future festive poem 'The Meeting of...', which he had written during the procedure in the margins of a newspaper".
- Composer: Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (23 April 1891 -- 5 March 1953)
- Orchestra: Academic Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg Philharmonic
- Conductor: Anton Lubchenko
- Year of recording: 2010 (?)
Festive poem "Meeting of the Volga and the Don" for orchestra Op. 130, written in 1951.
In the video: Stamp illustration of a lock on the Volga--Don Canal with motor ship "Joseph Stalin" (1953). Prokofiev wrote the 'festive' tone poem "The Meeting of the Volga and the Don" to celebrate the completion of the opening of a canal between the two Russian rivers the Volga and the Don, with the energetic assistance of cellist Rostropovich.
As a state commissioned work, one would expect a certain amount of banal melodies. Prokofiev, however, introduced some of his satiric/ironic nature into the music making it somewhat reminiscent of his early works, and especially of the cantate 'Zdravitsa' (see my upload of that piece for information). In this piece there is a hint as well of the composer making fun of state ceremonies.
The music is maybe not up to the standard of his symphonies but Prokofiev offers some expressive melodies, and the 'repeated' ending that never seems to end is priceless. Rostropovich recalls Prokofiev summoning him into his study after receiving medical treatment and playing "two themes from the future festive poem 'The Meeting of...', which he had written during the procedure in the margins of a newspaper".
