Romeo and Juliet — Suite No. 2, Op. 64ter
by Sergei Prokofiev
Prokofiev distilled his full three-act ballet Romeo and Juliet (1935) into three suites for independent concert performance. The Second Suite (Op. 64ter) contains seven movements including Montagues and Capulets (the famous "knightly dance" with its stamping brass), Juliet the Young Girl, Friar Laurence, and the Dance of the Five Couples. Prokofiev's genius lies in the extraordinary variety of orchestral colour and the rhythmic asymmetry that makes even familiar melodies sound freshly dangerous. The ballet itself was initially rejected by the Bolshoi and premiered in Brno in 1938.
Movements
Editions
Boosey & Hawkes
Prokofiev estate, 1951
Standard published score for the suites; the reference edition for most major orchestras.
Muzgiz (State Music Publishing)
Soviet editorial board, 1946
Original Soviet publication. Occasionally found in Eastern European orchestral libraries; now largely superseded by Boosey.