Who composed the music for Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet?

Sergei Prokofiev composed the music for his ballet Romeo and Juliet.

Prokofiev wrote the ballet in 1935, using Shakespeare’s tragedy as its dramatic basis. The original plan included a happy ending, but that idea was later abandoned because it conflicted with the play’s tragic conclusion. The score is known for sharply contrasting musical portraits, including the heavy, march-like Dance of the Knights.

The ballet was commissioned by the Kirov Ballet, but its first performance did not take place there. Romeo and Juliet premiered in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1938. A major Soviet production followed in Leningrad in 1940, performed by the Kirov Ballet.

Prokofiev also arranged orchestral suites and piano pieces from the ballet. The music has therefore become familiar outside complete stage performances, especially through concert programs and recordings. Tchaikovsky also wrote music connected with the lovers, but his well-known work is the orchestral fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet, not Prokofiev’s ballet.