Ivan the Terrible (Prokofiev)

Ivan the Terrible (Russian: Иван Грозный), Op. 116, is the score composed by Sergei Prokofiev in 1942-45 for Sergei Eisenstein's film Ivan the Terrible and its sequel, the first two parts of an incomplete trilogy. The project was Prokofiev's second collaboration with Eisenstein, the first being the popular Aleksandr Nevskiy (1938). The majority of the song texts were written by Vladimir Lugovskoy, who collaborated with Prokofiev on the texts for Aleksandr Nevskiy.

The subject of the "First Tale" (Part 1) is the early years, 1547 to 1565, of the reign of Ivan IV of Russia: his coronation, his intent to curb the powers of the boyars, his wedding, his conquest of Kazan, his almost fatal illness, the poisoning and death of his first wife Anastasiya, the formation of the Oprichniki, and his abdication.

The "Second Tale" (Part 2), subtitled The Boyar Conspiracy, covers the years 1565 to 1569, and concerns the defection of Prince Kurbskiy to Poland-Lithuania, Ivan's disputes with Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow, the intrigues of the boyars, the excesses of the Oprichniki, the attempted coup by the boyars and Ivan's aunt, Yefrosinya Staritskaya, the murder of her son Vladimir Staritsky, and Ivan's triumph over his domestic enemies.

The film scores were not published during Prokofiev's lifetime. They were arranged in 1961 as an oratorio for soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Levon Atovmyan, one of Prokofiev's assistants. However, before this version could be performed, the music received its concert premiere in 1961 in Moscow in the form of an oratorio for speaker, soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Abram Stasevich, who conducted the scores for Eisenstein.

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