JAVS Fall 2011

Example 4a. Sergey Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet, Dance of the Knights , mm. 79–86 (Borisovsky’s Viola Transcription, Chant du Monde edition).

Example 4b. Sergey Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet, Balcony Scene , mm. 79–86 (Borisovsky’s Viola Transcription, typ ical execution of harmonics).

Example 5. Sergey Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet, Carnival , mm. 166–75 (Borisovsky’s Viola Transcription, Chant du Monde edition).

Transcribing Death of Tybalt

to assume a duo role later in the extract). Additionally, while so much material returns in vari ous guises throughout Prokofiev’s score, this was one of the few sections that did not clearly relate to any other extract in Borisovsky’s suites. I was fortunate enough to be granted permission by the Prokofiev Estate to carry out the arrangement. I soon discovered some of the challenges that Borisovsky must have faced during the transcription process. The key of C major in which the violins play the tumultuous passage in the original score immedi-

Accessing, researching, and of course performing and recording all of the music from the ballet for viola and piano was, appropriately, a labor of love. In the process of exploring the music, there was one further section that, to me, seemed to be crying out to be transcribed, namely the Death of Tybalt . Not only is the original played largely on stringed instruments and often in unison, but also the accompaniment is simple enough to be able to work naturally on the piano (often using just one hand, enabling the other

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