| Babel | |
|---|---|
| by Igor Stravinsky | |
 Igor Stravinsky | |
| Composed | 1944 |
| Performed | 18 November 1945: Los Angeles |
| Duration | 7 minutes |
| Scoring | TTBB chorus and orchestra |
Babel is a neoclassical religious cantata composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1944.
| Babel | |
|---|---|
| by Igor Stravinsky | |
| Igor Stravinsky | |
| Composed | 1944 |
| Performed | 18 November 1945: Los Angeles |
| Duration | 7 minutes |
| Scoring | TTBB chorus and orchestra |
Babel is a neoclassical religious cantata composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1944.
Babel was written on commission from Nathaniel Shilkret, a music publisher, who asked Stravinsky to contribute to a collaborative work titled Genesis Suite , based on the early chapters of the Book of Genesis. Although Shilkret's intention was to create a descriptive suite, using representational music on aesthetic as well as religious grounds, Stravinsky relied on abstract musical form to present the biblical text in a more objective manner, believing that he should not make any attempts at dramatically portraying the voice of God. [1]
Arnold Schoenberg's Prelude was the first piece in the set, whereas Stravinsky's Babel was the last, on the subject of the building and destruction of the Tower of Babel. Stravinsky wrote his cantata on words taken from Genesis 11:1–9, in April 1944. Even though Béla Bartók, Paul Hindemith, and Sergei Prokofiev were also commissioned pieces for this suite, some of the pieces were never finished. [2] Like most composite works, The full suite never had any independent life of its own after its completion in October 1945, but some of its parts have been performed, especially those by better-known composers.
Stravinsky's first piece written exclusively in English, Babel was premiered on 18 November 1945, at the Wilshire Ebel Theatre in Los Angeles, California, by the Werner Janssen Symphony Orchestra, with Werner Janssen himself as the conductor. Hugo Strelitz acted as the chorus master. The piece was subsequently published by Schott. [3] [4]
The piece is in one movement and has a total duration of about seven minutes. The text used is taken from the Bible verbatim. It is scored for a two-part male chorus, three flutes, a piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, a bass clarinet, two bassoons, a contrabassoon, four French horns, three trumpets, three trombones, a harp, a piano, and a string section. [2] According to some scholars, the piece can be divided into four sections separated by tempo markings, though conductor Robert Craft often described the piece as "a passacaglia in which a fugue serves as one of the variations". Babel follows a neoclassical structure and form, and is a good example of Stravinsky's late neoclassical period. [5]
Contrary to the publisher's wishes, who deemed it more appropriate to entrust God's words to the narrator and leave the story of the construction and destruction of the Tower of Babel for the choir, Stravinsky eventually decided to leave the narrated parts for the narrator and the voice of God for the men's choir, believing that the spoken human voice could not express well God's word. [2] This was recurring for Stravinsky, as he made a clear distinction between the celestials and the terrestrials, intending that "the celestials should sing while the terrestrials should merely talk". He was, therefore, faced with this problem in Abraham and Isaac and The Flood . [4]
Stravinsky liked his own creation, as he claimed he preferred his own compositions performed untranslated, in the original language they were written. He stated: "musically speaking, Babel is a blessing". [6]
Following is an incomplete list of some of the most notable recordings of this piece:
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship and United States citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century and a pivotal figure in modernist music.
Robert Lawson Craft was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books.
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Alexander Tansman was a Polish composer, pianist and conductor who became a naturalized French citizen in 1938. One of the earliest representatives of neoclassicism, associated with École de Paris, Tansman was a globally recognized and celebrated composer.
Nathaniel Shilkret was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director.
Histoire du soldat, or Tale of the Soldier, as it was first published, is an hour-long 1918 theatrical work to be "read, played and danced (lue, jouée et dansée)" by three actors, one or more dancers, and a septet of instruments. Its music is by Igor Stravinsky, its libretto, in French, by Swiss writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz; the two men conceived it together, their basis being the Russian tale The Runaway Soldier and the Devil in the collection of Alexander Afanasyev.
The Symphony of Psalms is a choral symphony in three movements composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1930 during his neoclassical period. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The symphony derives its name from the use of Psalm texts in the choral parts.
The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953. It is most associated with longtime conductor Kiril Kondrashin under whom it premiered Shostakovich's Fourth and Thirteenth symphonies as well as other works. The Orchestra undertook a major tour of Japan with Kondrashin in April 1967 and CDs of the Japanese radio recordings have been made available on the Altus label.
Renard: histoire burlesque chantée et jouée, or The Fox: burlesque tale sung and played, is a chamber opera-ballet for four male voices and 16 instrumentalists written in 1916 by Igor Stravinsky. Its original Russian text, by the composer, derives from a folk tale as collected by Alexander Afanasyev — but the piece has no name in Russian, being titled generically instead as Байка про лису, петуха, кота да барана, or Tale of the Fox, the Cock, the Cat and the Ram. The premiere took place in a French translation in Paris on 18 May 1922. Duration: 16–17 minutes.
Canticum Sacrum ad Honorem Sancti Marci Nominis is a 17-minute choral-orchestral piece composed in 1955 by Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) in tribute "To the City of Venice, in praise of its Patron Saint, the Blessed Mark, Apostle." The piece is compact and stylistically varied, ranging from established neoclassical modes to experimental new techniques. The second movement, "Surge, Aquilo", represents Stravinsky's first movement based entirely on a tone row.
Igor Stravinsky composed his Mass between 1944 and 1948. This 19-minute setting of the Roman Catholic Mass exhibits the austere, Neoclassic, anti-Romantic aesthetic that characterizes his work from about 1923 to 1951. The Mass also represents one of only a handful of extant pieces by Stravinsky that was not commissioned. Part of the motivation behind its composition has been cited by Robert Craft and others as the product of a spiritual necessity, as Stravinsky intended the work to be used functionally.
Igor Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D is a neoclassical violin concerto in four movements, composed in the summer of 1931 and premiered on October 23, 1931. It lasts approximately twenty minutes.
Werner Janssen was an American composer and conductor of classical music and film scores. He was the first New York-born conductor to lead the New York Philharmonic. For his film work he was nominated for six Academy Awards.
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The Flood: A musical play (1962) is a short biblical drama by Igor Stravinsky on the story of Noah and the flood, originally conceived as a work for television. It contains singing, spoken dialogue, and ballet sequences. It is in Stravinsky's late, serial style.
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Ave Maria is a short motet for SATB chorus by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky.
Bluebird Pas de Deux is a 1941 arrangement for chamber orchestra of a short section of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty composed by Igor Stravinsky. It was used in Lucia Chase's Bluebird ballet.
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