Discovery

The Music

HOW THE SCORE WAS PREPARED FOR PERFORMANCE

The original version of the scenario and score of Romeo and Juliet contains the following numbers that are missing from the present-day performed version:

• No. 23 (Mercutio and the Nurse): this number is situation between Nos. 26 and 27 of the present-day performed version.
• No. 25: General dance (a tarantella for the end of act II, scene 1).
• Interlude between act II, scenes 2 and 3 (based on the music of the Five Pairs' Dance).
• No. 48: Dance of the Three Moors from the divertissement of act III, scene 2.[audio mp3 1.7Mb]
• No. 49: Dance of the Two Pirates (accompanied by on-stage mandolins).
• Act IV (in its entirety), beginning with No. 51. This is the "happy" ending.

The present-day performed version contains the following numbers that are missing from the original version of the scenario and the score:

• No. 4: Morning Dance
• No. 14: Juliet's Variation in the Ball Scene
• No. 20: Romeo's Variation in the Balcony Scene
• No. 25: Dance with Mandolins, for which the author used No. 49 of the original version (Dance of the Two Pirates)
• Bridge Passage from Nos. 20-21
• Insert in No. 21
• Variation in the ending of No 30
• Insert in No. 31
• Insert in No. 51 ("Exit of Romeo after the funeral")
• Bridge passage from Nos. 51-52 ("Death of Romeo")

The 1935 manuscript comprises a complete piano score with annotations for orchestration covering Nos. 1-51. The orchestration of these numbers, along with the tragic ending, was realized by Prokofiev's assistant Pavel Lamm. The restoration of the original version of the score relies on this orchestration were possible. For Nos. 52-56 Prokofiev did not complete the orchestration; the manuscript contains only a few indications for orchestration. In 1939-40, Prokofiev converted No. 56, the final number of the original score, into "Romeo's Variation," No. 20 of the present-day score. Lamm orchestrated it based on his instructions. In 1944, Prokofiev used Nos. 53-54 in the Second Movement of his Fifth Symphony. Once again, Lamm orchestrated it according to the composer's instructions.

The orchestration of Nos. 52-56 of the ballet was realized by composer Greg Spears in consultation with Simon Morrison based on Prokofiev's models provided by No. 20 of the present-day score, the Fifth Symphony Scherzo, other passages in the ballet using the same melodies, harmonies, and rhythms, and Prokofiev's indications for scoring in the manuscript of Nos. 52-56. Nos. 23, 48, and the second half of No. 25 were realized based solely on Prokofiev's annotations in the manuscript. Nos. 17-18, the "balcony scene," was rescored based on the 1938 suite from the ballet published under Prokofiev's direct supervision.

Published sources consulted in the preparation of the score:

• S. A. Petukhova, “Pervaya avtorskaya redaktsiya baleta Prokof'yeva ‘Romeo i Dzhul'yetta’. Istochnikovedcheskiye problemï izucheniya” (Ph. D. diss., MGK. im. P. I. Chaykovskogo, 1997).
• Nelly Kravetz, “The First Soviet Production of Romeo and Juliet,” Three Oranges: The Journal of the Serge Prokofiev Foundation (November 2004).