Sergei Prokofieff and Overture sur des Thèmes Juifs

This chamber music piece by Prokofieff deserves much more wider recognition. It is scored for a string quartet, clarinet solo and piano; the usage of the clarinet is typical in a Klezmer tradition.

Typical in a Ashkenazi-Klezmer style the piece begins on a V-I alternating bass:

Figure: S. Prokofieff, Overture sur des Thèmes Juifs, beginning

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The choice of C minor, a minor tonality as it was noted above for most of Gershwin's songs is worth noting. Unlike Western cultures, the minor tonality in most Middle-East cultures actually serves a ``happy'' role! The clarinet solo<sup>5.11</sup> is also very typical ``klezmerish'' sounding, the augmented second intervals should be noted as well.

Figure: Main theme on clarinet, a typical Klezmer setting accentuated with the violins

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The interplay of several descending augmented seconds in the piano part with the E30#30 and C24#24 clashes at the third bar, violins 1 and 2 with the viola added to the pedal tone C on the bass , sparingly and masterfully creates the desired rejoicings atmosphere in a Klezmer style.

Figure: A very middle-eastern sounding passage

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