Shortly after returning to Moscow in 1936, Prokofiev composed his first Soviet opera, Semyon Kotko (Opus 81). The libretto was taken from Valentin Kataev's novel I am a Son of the Working People, a tale of revolution and war in a small Ukrainian village and one that adheres to the tenets of Socialist Realism. Kataev encouraged Prokofiev to set this text in a highly conservative song style. Prokofiev was also influenced in the project by Vsevolod Meyerhold, an innovative artist who advocated using continuous declamation as a means of achieving "dramatic truth" in music. / This essay examines the extent to which Semyon Kotko can be considered a conformist opera. Part One is a survey of Socialist Realism and its manifestation in Soviet literature and music during the 1930's; Parts Two and Three examine the text and music of Semyon Kotko as representative of the doctrine. Consideration is given throughout the study to the opposing influences of Kataev and Meyerhold on Prokofiev, and to the political events surrounding the opera's composition.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.26048 |
| Date | January 1992 |
| Creators | Morrison, Simon |
| Contributors | Cherney, Brian (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Faculty of Music.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001324468, proquestno: MM87526, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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