Sergei Prokofiev Photo: Public Domain
This was Prokofiev’s last symphony, completed in 1952 in very difficult personal circumstances for the composer. His previous symphony had been condemned by Stalin’s government for not fitting in with its new standards, and they’d stripped him of his state pension. He was poor, his health was failing, and his personal relationships were strained.
He wrote this seventh symphony in the hopes of restoring himself to favour, and – perhaps more pressingly – of winning the highly lucrative Stalin Prize, awarded for great works in the arts, or science, architecture or technology.
He failed in the latter aspiration, but the symphony was at least warmly received at its premiere in the "Moscow Trade Union Hall of Columns”.
The conductor Kiril Karabits has said of this symphony: “‘You could call it a farewell symphony. It’s a symphony that looks back over his life and childhood – an old man’s dream of childhood. But he’s also saying farewell. Look at the ending – it’s just a heartbeat that slows down and then stops.”
Recorded by RNZ Concert, Auckland Town Hall, 22 October 2020
Producer: Tim Dodd; Engineer: Adrian Hollay
