The music from ‘Lieutenant Kijé’ was Prokofiev’s first attempt at composing film music. In 1933 he was commissioned by the Soviet Union to compose music for a film of the same name and he later adapted this music into an orchestral suite that has since become highly popular. ‘Troika’, which forms the 4th movement of this 5 movement suite, was composed to give the impression of a fast winter’s journey on a troika which is a traditional sleigh pulled by three horses. With the inclusion of sleigh-bells in the orchestration it has been often associated with the Christmas period and still is to this day.
