Prokofiev - 10 pieces from Romeo and Juliet

[cometear]

Are the 10 piano solos from Romeo and Juliet considered orchestral transcriptions or solo works? They have separate opus numbers than the ballet and are categorized and composed by Prokofiev. So are they solo works or transcriptions? 

[visitor]

Both. He did the orchestral first I believe, later he did the actual reduction for solo piano and published them as solo piano pieces. 

[ale_ius]

Both. He did the orchestral first I believe, later he did the actual reduction for solo piano and published them as solo piano pieces. 

Correct. Published the piano pieces in 1938( but arranged in 1937). The original was 1936.

"Prokofiev wrote a fairly large number of transcriptions for piano based on various orchestral works. He extracted nineteen such pieces from Cinderella (1940-44), distributing them among three sets, and also reworked sections from War and Peace, The Love for Three Oranges and other dramatic and occasional music. He completedRomeo and Juliet in 1936 and arranged ten pieces for piano from the score the following year. When Prokofiev transcribed, he usually did so in a fairly literal fashion, though he typically reordered numbers and often imported music from one section into another."

[cometear]

So they're considered "reductions"

[visitor]

So they're considered "reductions"

I think we can get lost in the verbiage but would most ultimately depend I te context f the question.  A literal transcription is pretty much an orchestral reduction for piano.  Since the pieces were polished by the composer as piano pieces, we can also consider them as composed solos ( since they are realized by the composer for the instrument).

Good question but tricky one to answer ( for me at least) 

[pianistavt]

Instead of starting a new thread I found this and thought it would be worthing building on it.

Wondering if anyone else here has worked on these? I could use some moral support!

Regarding the question of whether they are more like reductions or more like piano pieces, I would say the latter. For the most part, Prokofiev has done away with musical requirements that are pianistically impossible. Not entirely. Need to keep in mind, Prokofiev was a very skilled pianist, with an original concept about hand and arm movement, and much, maybe most, of his piano pieces make requirements that are physically unique and novel (at the time of publication).

Prokofiev's piano pieces, more so than predecessors', requires use of the sostenuto (middle) pedal. This is required frequently in op 75, truly with some adroit handling. It's been quite fun developing this new pedal skill.

As a final check on this question, I went to a source not available back in 2014 - chatbot. This is from Perplexity.AI: "Prokofiev himself performed these pieces publicly in 1937, highlighting their importance as a separate work. The suite is not a direct reduction but rather a pianistically conceived interpretation of scenes from the ballet, showcasing Prokofiev's mastery in adapting complex orchestral themes for solo piano. While they share origins with the orchestral music, they are distinctively crafted for the piano."

I would agree - they are very pianistic, albeit within the Prokofiev model, and they stand up in performance very well as a set of 10 or smaller sets. Many pianists perform them and record them.