Lieutenant Kijé, Op. 60

Composer: PROKOFIEV, Sergei
  • Originating as a film score in 1933, Lieutenant Kijé was adapted by the composer the following year into a five-movement symphonic suite:
    1. Birth of Kijé
    2. Romance
    3. Kijé’s Wedding
    4. Troika
    5. Kijé’s Funeral
  • Fun fact – the first performance of Lieutenant Kijé (the suite) was a radio broadcast in Moscow in 1934.1
  • In the original story of Lieutenant Kijé by writer Yury Tunyanov, “the Tsar (Paul I, son of Catherine the Great) was awakened one night by a scream emanating from a tryst in the palace. In the meantime, a careless scribe had inadvertently created a fictitious officer’s name on a duty roster and the tsar’s staff conveniently placates the Tsar’s anger by blaming the nocturnal outrage on the fictitious ‘Lieutenant Kijé.’ Subsequently, the fabricated Kijé is flogged, sent to Siberia, ultimately pardoned, promoted to colonel, then general, and made rich with the Tsar’s gifts. Finally, the Tsar demands to see the phantom in person.  Backed into a corner, his courtiers announce that ‘Kijé’ has unfortunately (and conveniently) died.  The Tsar wants his money back, but it’s too late.  The courtiers have spent it on themselves, and denounce ‘Kijé’ as a spendthrift.  The angry Tsar thereupon demotes ‘Kijé’ posthumously to the rank of private.”2

Sources

  1. “Lieutenant Kijé (suite), Op.60 (Prokofiev, Sergey),” IMSLP, accessed October 14, 2024, https://imslp.org/wiki/Lieutenant_Kij%C3%A9_(suite),_Op.60_(Prokofiev,_Sergey).
  2. William E. Runyan, “Lieutenant Kijé Suite, op. 60,” Fort Collins Symphony, accessed October 16, 2024, https://fcsymphony.org/program-notes/prokofiev-lieutenant-kuje-suite/.

Cut IDs

40937 49198 11147 23444 13353