Re: Prokofiev's "Overture on Hebrew Themes"

[mmirkin <mmirkin...>]

The Overture on Hebrew Themes Op. 34 was originally written for A clarinet, 
piano and string quartet in 1919.  Prokofiev arranged it for clarinet and 
orchestra in 1934. It was written during Prokofiev's short stay in the US. He 
was approached by some friends (that he knew from his conservatory days at St. 
Petersberg) currenly living in the US and that had an ensemble of this 
combination, but no pieces were written for that combo. They wanted a jewish 
themed piece to have to play for a fundraiser that was raising money to start a 
music conservatory in Jerusalem.  

This piece has picked up in popularity with the past few years and there are a 
variety of recordings out there. Its a great piece to play, having played and 
recorded the piece myself and it's always a crowd pleaser.

Marcy Mirkin
> The New York Philharmonic concert yesterday (April 4), conducted by
> Rostropovich, had an all-Prokofiev program.  The central piece was
> Prokofiev's "Sinfonia concertante", a complex and difficult cello concerto.
> It was played excellently by a young cellist, Xavier Phillips.
> 
> The program notes of this piece included the following sentence: "The theme
> becomes increasingly more grotesque, assuming something like the quality of
> Jewish village klezmer music, the sort that Prokofiev imitated so
> brilliantly in his early 'Overture on Hebrew Themes'."  I've never heard
> that work.  Can somebody here tell me about it?  Is there a recording that
> is recommended?
> 
> Marvin Margoshes
> 
> 
> 
> 

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