Evan Feldman
The Evolution of Sergei Prokofiev's Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution into the Ode To the End of the War : A Look at Two Monumental Pieces by Sergei Prokofiev

 


Evan Feldman is Director of Bands at Central College, in Pella, Iowa, where he conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, teaches conducting, orchestration, and instrumental methods, and serves as Assistant Department Chairperson. He is also founder and conductor of the Central Iowa Wind Ensemble. He earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied conducting with Donald Hunsberger and Mendi Rodan and served as Assistant Conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble and Wind Orchestra. In Spring 2001, he was Visiting Instructor of Conducting at the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam.
Dr. Feldman received his undergraduate degree from Duke University and his Masters from Ithaca College, studying with Michael Votta and Rodney Winther. He is an active clinician and guest conductor and his writings have been published in The Instrumentalist, Iowa Bandmaster Magazine, and MENC Music Educators Journal. He recently presented a paper on the chamber wind music of Sergei Prokofiev at the IGEB conference (International Society for the Promotion and Investigation of Wind Band Music) in Oberwolz, Austria.



The Evolution of Sergei Prokofiev's Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution into the Ode To the End of the War : A Look at Two Monumental Pieces by Sergei Prokofiev
13th July 2005 (12:30 to 1:30pm)

Besides a series of military marches and a short, insignificant anthem, Sergei Prokofiev wrote only two works for winds: The Overture in B-flat, op. 42, and the Ode to the End of the War, op. 105, a massive piece for orchestral wind section, percussion, four grand pianos, and eight harps. The Ode, as the name implies, was written to commemorate the end of World War II, though the music of its central section is a virtual re-arrangement (or some might argue, a recycling) of the ninth movement of the earlier Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, op. 74. Both the Cantata and the Ode exemplify Prokofiev's Soviet style, a mixture of neo-Romanticism, folk simplicity, experimental bombast, and pomp and spectacle. This presentation will consider the relationship between the two works, examining orchestration, thematic, and structural differences between them. Discussion will also examine the Ode as whole and present suggestions for performing it with a modern symphonic band (especially for those ensembles who do not have access to eight harps and four pianos).