Iryna Akimova .Сycle MUSIC. S.Prokofiev.Romeo
and Juliet. Suite 2.
This animation is created on the basis of four pictures by Iryna Akimova
that reflect musical themes of Prokofiev’s ROMEO AND JULIET
Montagues and Capulets
A heavy and gloomy march of discord and hatred between two noble families is represented in the
picture by a bright red-yellow stylized flame interspersed with burgundy-colored
lines of anger and bitterness. This
flame fuels age-old enmity. Against this background, dark sharp broken lines turn
into profiles of the knights who fight against
each other. In the center of the picture, two white figures born from a single
holistic line, remind of the emerging tender and sensitive love. It is a
fragile antipode to the world of hatred and blood feud
The Young Juliet.
In the picture the musical theme of young Juliet from Prokofiev’s suite unfolds on a
blue background, which changes its shade from light to dark blue . It
symbolizes both the purity and dreaminess of Juliet and the accumulation of
threats to her love, which will lead to a dramatic ending. In broken vertical
lines on the background, one can read profiles of the members of warring
families. The image of Juliet is
presented in the form of a light spring, which swiftly follows her feelings in
the rhythm of staccato or briefly freezes for a while seized by her dreams. The
spiral of her short life unfolds rapidly, portending a dramatic finale…
Before parting
In the middle of the picture, against a dark background,
there are two hugging figures. Only night protects the love of Romeo and
Juliet. However, the first chords of the coming morning sound. The melody grows
and seems to expand in volume. So do blue and yellow circles that symbolize the rising sun in
the blue sky. The figures of Romeo and Juliet separate and gradually move away
from each other as if captured by the circles of the morning.
In the corners of the picture, wavy figures, like fantastic traces, also
diverge in different directions. Their curves contain the main musical theme of
this piece. The fours of vertically arranged thin pipes reflect the dramatic
rhythm of parting of two loving people. The white figures of Romeo and Juliet,
moving away from each other, seem to dissolve in the ensemble of yellow-orange
tones of the coming morning, the morning of their parting.
Romeo at the grave of Juliet
The painting is divided into three horizontal sections. In the middle of
the picture, against a light background, the profile of Juliet is visible. She
islying on a gravestone. The dark background of the upper and lower parts of
the picture symbolizes the mourning of both families, who lost their
children due to blood feud. The white outlines of Romeo and Juliet are written
in one unbreakable line, the line of love that united them in life and in
death.
The orange and white-blue lines of pointed symbols are the musical notes
of the main melody of this part of the suite. Their colors resemble the voices
of musical instruments, which merge, singing the mourning song of death. At the
top and bottom of the painting, stripes of gray figures are frozen in poses of
grief and prayer. These are families of Romeo and Juliet mourning their loss.
The figures themselves also represent
the score of the main melody.
