The Queen of Spades, film music (unfinished), Op. 70 (1936)

Program Note

The Queen of Spades, Op. 70, is an unfinished film score composed by Sergei Prokofiev between 1936 and 1937. It was conceived as the soundtrack for a planned Soviet cinematic adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s novella of the same name, intended for release in 1937 to commemorate the centenary of Pushkin’s death. The project, however, was ultimately abandoned at the insistence of Joseph Stalin, leaving the score unrealized in its original cinematic context.

Having recently returned to the Soviet Union after years abroad, Prokofiev approached the work by focusing on the novella’s central themes—obsession, gambling, and the supernatural. Rather than providing a literal narrative accompaniment, he crafted a concentrated musical interpretation that captures the psychological intensity of the story.

Despite the film’s cancellation, elements of the score did not disappear. Prokofiev later reused material from The Queen of Spades in works such as his Fifth Symphony and Eighth Piano Sonata, demonstrating the adaptability of its musical ideas within the constraints of Soviet cultural production.

In the years following the composer’s death, the score found renewed life through various adaptations. These include the suite Pushkiniana, arranged by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, and a more extensive symphonic version by Michael Berkeley. Berkeley’s arrangement later formed the basis of the ballet Rushes, premiered at the Royal Opera House in 2007. Structured in movements such as Introduction and Allegro, Adagio, Scherzo, and Finale, this version was recorded in 2008 by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Neeme Järvi. These reinterpretations have brought previously overlooked material to modern audiences, affirming the enduring artistic value of a work born from an unrealized project.