I. The Adoration of Veles and Ala
II. The Enemy God and the Dance of the Black Spirits
III. Night
IV. The Glorious Departure of Lolli and the Procession of the Sun
The ancient Scythians, wildly savage, had horrid manners and customs.
Herodotus tells us at pleasing length how they sacrificed one in a
hundred of their enemies to Mars; how in battle they scalped their foes
and drank their blood; how they burned false prophets among their many
soothsayers; how they strangled servants of their dead king and seated
them upon horses stuffed with chaff to place about the monument. Truly a
splendidly barbarous folk.
And in his Scythian suite, Prokofieff has written superbly barbaric
music.
This music is something more than roaring, blaring dissonance; something
more than eccentric experimentation in harmonic schemes and daring
orchestration. The suite is deftly planned; broadly conceived; carried
out with rare dramatic intensity.
No matter how wild this music is, there is admirable method in the
madness; there is a refreshing mastery in the development of the
composer’s purpose. He knew what he wanted; he gained his effects. They
are not episodic, spasmodic, but skillfully continuous. The third
movement, “Night,” is perhaps the most remarkable in the revelation of
poetically dramatic feeling. There is “the blackness of darkness”—a
night in which Nature herself shudders and is afraid; a night when the
Demon is master, and strange, sinister deeds are wrought. Compare this
movement with the magnificent _finale_ with its amazing climax.
* * *
This suite was composed in 1914. The first performance was at the
Imperial Maryinski Theater, Petrograd, on January 29, 1916. The composer
conducted.
The suite is scored for piccolo, three flutes, three oboes, English
horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, double bassoon,
eight horns, four trumpets, four trombones, bass tuba, kettledrums, bass
drum, side drum, tambourine, cymbals, triangle, celesta, xylophone,
bells, two harps, pianoforte, and strings.
The four movements have this programme:
I. Invocation to Veles and Ala. _Allegro feroce_, 4-4 time. The music
describes an invocation to the sun, worshiped by the Scythians as their
highest deity, named Veles. This invocation is followed by the sacrifice
to the beloved idol, Ala, the daughter of Veles.
II. The Evil-God and dance of the pagan monsters. _Allegro sostenuto_,
4-4 time. The Evil-God summons the seven pagan monsters from their
subterranean realms and, surrounded by them, dances a delirious dance.
III. Night. _Andantino_, 4-4 time. The Evil-God comes to Ala in the
darkness. Great harm befalls her. The moon rays fall upon Ala, and the
moon-maidens descend to bring her consolation.
IV. Lolli’s pursuit of the Evil-God and the sunrise. _Tempestuoso_, 4-4
time. Lolli, a Scythian hero, went forth to save Ala. He fights the
Evil-God. In the uneven battle with the latter, Lolli would have
perished, but the Sun-God rises with the passing of night and smites the
evil deity. With the description of the sunrise the suite comes to an
end.
Scythia is a name that has been applied to different countries at
different times. The Scythia described by Herodotus comprised the
southeastern parts of Europe between the Carpathian Mountains and the
river Tanaïs (now Don). Herodotus gives a graphic and singularly
interesting account of these wild, barbaric nomads in the fourth book of
his history. We are interested here only with what he has to say about
their religion:
“They propitiate the following gods only: Vesta, most of all; then
Jupiter, deeming the Earth to be the wife of Jupiter; after these,
Apollo, and Venus Urania, and Hercules and Mars. All the Scythians
acknowledge these, but those who are called Royal Scythians sacrifice
also to Neptune. Vesta in the Scythian language is named Tabiti; Jupiter
is, in my opinion, very rightly called Papæus; the Earth, Apia; Apollo,
Œtosyrus; Venus Urania, Artimposa; and Neptune, Thamimasadas. They are
not accustomed to erect images, altars, and temples, except to Mars; to
him they are accustomed.” Then follows a minute description of the
manner in which they sacrificed cattle and enemies taken prisoners, the
latter to Mars. “Swine they never use, nor suffer them to be reared in
their country.”