It is fair to say that every piece of composition has a hidden significance behind it as well as a certain impact on the listeners. Alexander Nevsky's fourth movement Arise, Ye Russian People, composed by the famous Russian composer Sergey Prokofiev, was a cantata (vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment) designed to fit the film directed by Sergei Eisenstein on the thirteenth-century Russian hero Alexander Nevsky. Although this movement is relatively short, but the music as a whole was extremely powerful, and by powerful I mean the feeling of strong sense of nationalism and heroism as a listener.The coordination of the chorus and the instruments used in Alexander Nevsky's fourth movement has a great impact on the piece as a whole. The usage of instruments such as the flutes, bass drum, horns, trumpets and harps etc. enriched the piece with “explosive power”, a power of strong nationalism.
With the aid of the chorus and the texts, the music was so powerful that it easily makes the reader to feel the spirit of nationalism evoked at the thirteenth-century period when Russia was fighting with invaders from Sweden and Germany.The music form used in this particular movement also has a dramatic effect on the audience. Prokofiev used the ternary from, or the ABA form throughout the piece. The first A section of the music, which is until measure thirty-three, is a tense and powerful part. The high pitch that came out as the chorus sings make people feel nervous and inspired. The B section, which is from measure thirty-four to measure sixty-five, was changed from Eb to D major.
It is a softer and the more romantic part of the song if the texts doesn't exist.Although the high pitch sounds are lowered down, the song is still powerful due to the texts and the chorus. Then the last section of the piece, which is from measure sixty-six to measure ninety, it is like a summarize for the entirely music. Similar to the first section, the chorus suddenly changes from the a softer and slower sound as well as the instrumental accompaniments in section B and went back straight to section A, which contends a high pitch just like the first section. To my surprise, the ABA form as a whole empowers the composition.
The sudden drop in section B and later back to section A is the one that matter the most. With section A going in an upward direction and a dramatic drop down in section B and finally raise back to the upward position at section A, the changes of the high and low pitches make the theme of the piece very clear. The texts, which is all about struggle for the freedom of the people, also has a huge impact on the listeners. The words are very nationalistic, Phrases such as “A – rise to arms, for native home and fights to death” all described the patriotic feeling the composer devoted while writing the texts.And when it was sang by a group of singers, the power of nationalism eventually came out.
And as an audience, you can feel it just by listen to the words and tempo. Prokofiev's nationalistic feeling about his country can be fully revealed and inferred from the title of the movement, the musical form, choices of instruments, writing of texts and the coordination with the chorus successfully turned the piece into one that is so powerful, militaristic and nationalistic.
