Greeting Prelude

Last updated

Greeting Prelude
by Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky (1962).tif
Stravinsky in 1962
DedicationFor the 80th birthday of Pierre Monteux
Published1956
Publisher Boosey & Hawkes
Durationc.45 seconds
ScoringOrchestra
Premiere
DateApril 4, 1955
Location Symphony Hall, Boston
Conductor Charles Munch
Performers Boston Symphony Orchestra

The Greeting Prelude is an orchestral work composed in 1955 by Igor Stravinsky. Its origins can be traced back to an incident that occurred during a rehearsal at the inaugural Aspen Festival in 1950, when Stravinsky was displeased by a surprise rendition of "Happy Birthday to You", a song with which he was unfamiliar. The next year, at the request of Samuel Barber, he harmonized it and composed a two-part canon as a birthday present for Mary Louise Curtis. In February 1955, Charles Munch, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, contacted Stravinsky with a request for a brief orchestral tribute for Pierre Monteux's 80th birthday. After initially expressing uncertainty that he could accept the commission, he composed Greeting Prelude between February 18 and 23.

Contents

Its world premiere performance took place at Symphony Hall, Boston, on April 4, 1955, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Munch, as part of a program shared with Monteux. Immediate reactions to the brief work, which treats the "Happy Birthday" theme serially within a diatonic harmonic context, were positive. Leonard Bernstein and Colin Davis conducted the Greeting Prelude in 1962 in tribute to Stravinsky's 80th birthday that year; the former on the CBS television series Young People's Concerts , in an episode devoted to the composer.

Cyrus Durgin of the Boston Globe described the Greeting Prelude as "a kind of perpetual motion which has no conclusion". Musicologist Eric Walter White called it a "jovial, aphoristic work, but rather too short to make much effect". Stravinsky himself said that it was a "very learned prelude" and "a kind of singing telegram".

Background

Surprise

One of the few events that interrupted Igor Stravinsky's work on The Rake's Progress in 1950 were engagements to conduct two concerts at the inaugural Aspen Festival in July. During a rehearsal, he was taken aback when his downbeat did not produce the result he expected: [1]

I started a rehearsal of Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony, but instead of the doleful Russian horn melody, I heard this happy little tune ("Happy Birthday to You"). I had no idea what happened and did not understand the point (which was that one of the orchestra players had just become a father); until a certain time had been spent in diplomacy, in fact, I was actually piqued. [2]

Stravinsky had been unfamiliar with "Happy Birthday to You", but remembered it after this occasion. [3] The following year, in June 1951, he encountered the song again when Samuel Barber asked him to harmonize it as a 75th birthday present for Mary Louise Curtis. He complied and composed a two-part canon based on the melody. [4]

Pierre Monteux's 80th birthday

Pierre Monteux (left) in 1953 Monteux-Brook-1953.jpg
Pierre Monteux (left) in 1953

In 1954, Stravinsky received a commission from the Venice Biennale to compose a choral work based on sacred texts, with a premiere at St. Mark's Basilica tentatively scheduled for an undetermined date between September 1954 and 1955. [5] By February 1955, however, they had still not finalized his contract, which left the composer in a state that musicologist Stephen Walsh described as "creative limbo". [6]

As Stravinsky awaited confirmation from the festival bureaucracy, he received a letter early that month from Charles Munch, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The conductor requested a brief orchestral work to commemorate the 80th birthday in April of former Boston Symphony music director Pierre Monteux. [6] The composer and elder conductor, who conducted the premieres of Petrushka and The Rite of Spring , had a longstanding professional relationship, despite periods of acrimony. [7] Although Stravinsky wrote to Munch on February 9 that he was uncertain he could fulfill the task, he began to compose the Greeting Prelude on February 18. He completed it on February 23 and mailed the score to the New York City office of Boosey & Hawkes that same day. [4] The score was published in 1956. [8]

Music

The Greeting Prelude—which is modeled after Anton Webern's orchestration of the "Ricercar à 6" from The Musical Offering by Johann Sebastian Bach [6] —begins with the "Happy Birthday" theme played by horns and piano, with strings repeating each statement in diminution. These are then treated using serial devices, [8] but within a diatonic harmonic context. [9] The middle section follows, with the theme played by bassoons, tuba, and double-basses juxtaposed against a rhythmically reshaped version played by violins and cellos in canon. After three measures, the second violins split from the first into free counterpoint, at the same time the violas begin with an inverted version of the theme played in retrograde. The piece concludes with a restatement of the opening on horns and piano, followed by the strings. [8]

Stravinsky told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the work was a "very learned prelude, all fugue and canon", [10] and later also described it as "a kind of singing telegram". [8] A typical performance lasts approximately 45 seconds. [8]

Instrumentation

The instrumentation for the Greeting Prelude is as follows: [8]

Manuscript

Holograph sketches and score are in the possession of the Paul Sacher Foundation. These consist of four pages of sketches in pencil and seven pages of the final draft in ink. [11]

Premiere

The world premiere of the Greeting Prelude took place at Symphony Hall, Boston, on April 4, 1955, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Munch. It shared the program with another birthday tribute commissioned for the occasion, Pensée amicale, by Darius Milhaud. The first half of the concert was conducted by Monteux and replicated the corresponding part of his first concert as conductor with the Colonne Orchestra. [12]

Reception

Immediate reaction to the Greeting Prelude was positive. Cyrus Durgin, music critic for the Boston Globe , reported that the work was received with "much applause, bows, and cheers":

This, beginning with a terrific thwack of drums, and punctuated by them as if by celebration gunfire, was just a trace in the manner of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, that historic piece in whose tumultuous premiere both Monteux and Stravinsky were actively concerned. By the abrupt ending, you might judge that the Greeting Prelude was some kind of perpetual motion which has no conclusion. And that too was highly appropriate in symbolic application to Mr. Monteux's career. [13]

Robert Craft conducted it on May 22, 1955, [14] at the Ojai Music Festival, where it was also received warmly by audiences and critics. [15] [16]

Programs celebrating Stravinsky's 80th birthday in 1962 included performances of the Greeting Prelude. It was played by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein on their CBS television series, Young People's Concerts , in an episode celebrating Stravinsky. [17] On August 28, it was played by the London Symphony Orchestra on a Proms Stravinsky birthday tribute concert, conducted by Colin Davis. [18]

In his study of Stravinsky's music, musicologist Eric Walter White called the Greeting Prelude a "brief jeu d'esprit" and a "jovial, aphoristic work, but rather too short to make much effect". [8]

Similar to what occurred with the incorporation of the song "Une Jambe de bois" into the score of Petrushka , Stravinsky mistakenly believed that "Happy Birthday" was not under copyrightan "expensive error", according to Craft. A sizable part of the royalties from performances of Greeting Prelude were awarded to the rights holders of "Happy Birthday". [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Igor Stravinsky</span> Russian composer (1882–1971)

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship and American citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century and a pivotal figure in modernist music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Symphony Orchestra</span> American symphony orchestra in Boston

The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, the BSO performs most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at Tanglewood.

<i>The Rite of Spring</i> 1913 ballet by Igor Stravinsky

The Rite of Spring is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky with stage designs and costumes by Nicholas Roerich. When first performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29 May 1913, the avant-garde nature of the music and choreography caused a sensation. Many have called the first-night reaction a "riot" or "near-riot", though this wording did not come about until reviews of later performances in 1924, over a decade later. Although designed as a work for the stage, with specific passages accompanying characters and action, the music achieved equal if not greater recognition as a concert piece and is widely considered to be one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Monteux</span> French and American conductor (1875–1964)

Pierre Benjamin Monteux was a French conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1907. He came to prominence when, for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company between 1911 and 1914, he conducted the world premieres of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and other prominent works including Petrushka, The Nightingale, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, and Debussy's Jeux. Thereafter he directed orchestras around the world for more than half a century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Munch (conductor)</span>

Charles Munch was an Alsatian French symphonic conductor and violinist. Noted for his mastery of the French orchestral repertoire, he was best known as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

<i>The Firebird</i> 1910 ballet by Igor Stravinsky

The Firebird is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who collaborated with Alexandre Benois and others on a scenario based on the Russian fairy tales of the Firebird and the blessing and curse it possesses for its owner. It was first performed at the Opéra de Paris on 25 June 1910 and was an immediate success, catapulting Stravinsky to international fame and leading to future Diaghilev–Stravinsky collaborations including Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913).

<i>Petrushka</i> (ballet) 1911 ballet by Igor Stravinsky

Petrushka is a ballet by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1911 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine and stage designs and costumes by Alexandre Benois, who assisted Stravinsky with the libretto. The ballet premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet on 13 June 1911 with Vaslav Nijinsky as Petrushka, Tamara Karsavina as the lead ballerina, Alexander Orlov as the Moor, and Enrico Cecchetti the charlatan.

<i>Symphony of Psalms</i> 1930 symphony by Igor Stravinsky

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Voisin</span> American trumpeter (1918–2008)

Roger Louis Voisin was an American classical trumpeter. In 1959, The New York Times called him "one of the best-known trumpeters in this country."

The Wedding, or Svadebka (Russian: Свадебка), is a Russian-language ballet-cantata by Igor Stravinsky scored unusually for four vocal soloists, chorus, percussion and four pianos. Dedicating the work to impresario Sergei Diaghilev, the composer described it in French as "choreographed Russian scenes with singing and music" [sic], and it remains known by its French name of Les noces despite being Russian.

<i>Trois mouvements de Petrouchka</i>

Trois mouvements de Petrouchka or Three Movements from Petrushka is an arrangement for piano of music from the ballet Petrushka by the composer Igor Stravinsky for the pianist Arthur Rubinstein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Sample (conductor)</span> American conductor (1910–1995)

James W. Sample was an American conductor.

This is a listing of all of Igor Stravinsky's commercially released studio recordings as a conductor or as a pianist; it also includes recordings conducted by Robert Craft "under the supervision of the composer." Works are arranged in chronological order by date of composition.

The Symphony in E-flat, Op. 1, is the first published work composed by Igor Stravinsky during his apprenticeship with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. It is also his first composition for orchestra. Of classical structure, it is broadly influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, Tchaikovsky and Wagner. It was composed in 1905–1907 and revised in 1913. It lasts for about forty minutes.

<i>Threni</i> (Stravinsky) Musical composition by Stravinsky

Threni: id est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae, usually referred to simply as Threni, is a musical setting by Igor Stravinsky of verses from the Book of Lamentations in the Latin of the Vulgate, for solo singers, chorus and orchestra. It is Stravinsky's first and longest completely dodecaphonic work, but is not often performed. It has been called "austere" but also a "culminating point" in his career, "important both spiritually and stylistically" and "the most ambitious and structurally the most complex" of all his religious compositions, and even "among Stravinsky's greatest works".

This is a sound and video discography of Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring. The work was premiered in Paris on May 29, 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. It was presented by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky and was conducted by Pierre Monteux. The list includes many of the most noted recordings of the work but is by no means exhaustive. The avant-garde character of the music, combined with Nijinsky's innovative choreography, caused a near riot at the first performance. It has since gained wide acceptance both as a ballet and as a concert piece.

Louis-Marius Speyer was a French-born American oboist best known for playing solo English horn in the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1918 to 1964.

Scherzo à la russe is a composition by Russian expatriate composer Igor Stravinsky. It was initially published by Chappell & Co. in 1945 and premiered in March 1946 by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer himself. It was later published by Boosey & Hawkes.

The "Canon on a Russian Popular Tune" is an orchestral work by Igor Stravinsky composed in 1965. It is the composer's final completed score for orchestra and was composed in the summer of 1965 during work on his Requiem Canticles. Although originally intended as a valedictory tribute to Pierre Monteux, the published score makes no mention of this.

References

  1. Walsh 2006, p. 258.
  2. Stravinsky, Igor (1972). Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Favorite Short Pieces (liner notes). Igor Stravinsky, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, CBC Symphony Orchestra. New York City: Columbia Masterworks. M 31729.
  3. 1 2 Craft 1994, p. 43.
  4. 1 2 Walsh 2006, p. 632, n. 46.
  5. Walsh 2006, pp. 319–320.
  6. 1 2 3 Walsh 2006, p. 327.
  7. Stravinsky, Vera; Craft, Robert (1978). Stravinsky: In Pictures and Documents. New York City: Simon and Schuster. pp. 280–281. ISBN   0-671-24382-9.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 White 1979, p. 481.
  9. M., C. (July 1956). "Greeting Prelude for the Eightieth Birthday of Pierre Monteux by Igor Stravinsky; Three Traditional Rhymes, Op. 17, for Voice, Violin (Alternating with Viola), Clarinet and Bass Clarinet by Anton Webern". Music & Letters . 37 (3): 305. JSTOR   729977 via JSTOR.
  10. "His Latest Work Greeting Prelude to Happy Birthday: Fugue and Canon to You—Igor Stravinsky, Here to Conduct Symphony, is Composer of Note". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . p. 21. Retrieved July 26, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  11. Shepard, John (June 1984). "The Stravinsky Nachlass: A Provisional Checklist of Music Manuscripts". Notes. 40 (4): 732. doi:10.2307/940686. JSTOR   940686 via JSTOR.
  12. Canarina, John (2003). Pierre Monteux, Maître. Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press. p. 250. ISBN   1-57467-082-4.
  13. Durgin, Cyrus (April 5, 1955). "Monteux Makes Birthday No. 80 an Enriching Experience for All". Boston Globe . p. 13. Retrieved July 26, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Music This Week". Los Angeles Times . May 22, 1955. p. 116. Retrieved July 26, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  15. Goldberg, Albert (May 23, 1955). "The Sounding Board: Ojai's Ninth Festival Attains Top Standard". Los Angeles Times . p. 70. Retrieved July 26, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  16. Wentworth, Betty (May 23, 1955). "Once Again Ojai Festival Crowds Enjoy Great Music". Ventura County Star . p. 9. Retrieved July 26, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Young People's Concert Scheduled Monday 'Petrushka' Will be Featured on Program". Wewoka Daily Times. March 25, 1962. p. 2. Retrieved July 26, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  18. Mitchell, Donald (August 29, 1962). "Promenade Concert: Stravinsky Saluted on 80th Birthday". Daily Telegraph . p. 12.

Cited sources