The Symphony was written between 1938 and 1940 on a commission from American philanthropist Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss. It was a turbulent period of the composer's life, marked by illness and deaths in his immediate family. In 1937, Stravinsky was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which had already forced his wife and two daughters to a sanatorium in Switzerland. Stravinsky's daughter Ludmilla and wife Catherine died of their illnesses in November 1938 and March 1939, respectively, followed by Stravinsky's own quarantine and the death of his mother Anna in June 1939.[1] He also suffered a cerebral thrombosis while conducting the symphony at a 1956 concert in Berlin, Germany.[2]
Stravinsky was still mourning the deaths of his family members when World War II forced him to leave Europe.[3] He had written the symphony's first two movements in France and Switzerland. Stravinsky wrote the third movement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the fourth movement in Hollywood, after his emigration to the United States.[4] The symphony was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Stravinsky on November 7, 1940.[5]
The Symphony in C is representative of Stravinsky's neoclassical period, which had been launched by his ballet Pulcinella (1919–20), the opera Mavra (1921–22), and Octet for winds (1922–23). The symphony has a traditional, four-movement structure and lasts approximately 30 minutes:
The Symphony in C is entirely abstract and seems a retreat into the "pure music" styles of Bach, Beethoven, and Haydn. Stravinsky disclaimed any link between his personal experiences and the symphony's content.[6][7]
Regarding its style, Stravinsky acknowledged a division of the symphony into halves.[8] The first two movements, composed in Europe, use more traditional rhythmic patterns and harmonizations. The last two movements use frequent modulations of rhythm and are much more chromatic.[7]
Stravinsky's misfortunes apart, the Symphony in C had been infrequently performed in the composer's lifetime; Stravinsky noted that for several years he was the only person conducting the work.[9]
The work was choreographed by Martha Graham in the late 1980s. She named the result "Persephone" in ironic reference to another major work by Stravinsky. Although Graham choreographed all four movements, only the three-movement version was performed on stage.[clarification needed]
Notes
↑ Phillip Huscher, Program Notes: Symphony in C (Chicago: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 2008); Igor Stravinsky, Liner notes for Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements; Symphony in C; Symphony of Psalms (CBS Records MK 42434, 1963/1988), pp. 4–5.
↑ Igor Stravinsky, liner notes for Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements; Symphony in C; Symphony of Psalms (CBS Records MK 42434, 1963/1988), pp. 4–6.
↑ Phillip Huscher, Program Notes: Symphony in C (Chicago: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 2008); Michael Oliver, Igor Stravinsky (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1995), p. 138.
↑ Igor Stravinsky, Liner notes for Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements; Symphony in C; Symphony of Psalms (CBS Records MK 42434, 1963/1988), pp. 4–5.
Pulcinella is a 21-section ballet by Igor Stravinsky with arias for soprano, tenor and bass vocal soloists, and two sung trios. It is based on the 18th-century play Quatre Polichinelles semblables, or Four similar Pulcinellas, revolving around a stock character from commedia dell'arte. The work premiered at the Paris Opera on 15 May 1920 under the baton of Ernest Ansermet. The central dancer, Léonide Massine, created both the libretto and the choreography, while Pablo Picasso designed the costumes and sets. The ballet was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballets Russes. A complete performance takes 35–40 minutes. Stravinsky revised the score in 1965.
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 Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra was written by Igor Stravinsky in Nice between 1926 and 1929. The score was revised in 1949.
Feu d'artifice, Op. 4 is a composition by Igor Stravinsky, written in 1908 and described by the composer as a "short orchestral fantasy." It usually takes less than four minutes to perform.
Béla Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2, BB 117 was written in 1937–38. During the composer's life, it was known simply as his Violin Concerto. His other violin concerto, Violin Concerto No. 1, Sz. 36, BB 48a, was written in the years 1907–1908, but only published in 1956, after the composer's death, as "Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. posth."
The Symphony in Three Movements is a work by Russian expatriate composer Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky wrote the symphony from 1942–45 on commission by the Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was premièred by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Stravinsky on January 24, 1946.
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.
The Symphonies of Wind Instruments is a concert work written by Igor Stravinsky in 1920, for an ensemble of woodwind and brass instruments. The piece is in one movement, lasting about 9 minutes. It is dedicated to the memory of Claude Debussy, who died in 1918, and was premiered in London on 10 June 1921, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky.
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.
The Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op.28 by Karl Goldmark was composed in 1877 and premiered in Bremen the same year. Goldmark later composed a second violin concerto, but it was never published, and is believed to be lost.
Symphony No. 1 by Soviet-Russian composer Gavriil Nikolayevich Popov is a composition that was banned from performance in the USSR. Popov had completed a sketch of the first movement by August 1929 and was preparing its last (third) movement by February 1930. The work, still in draft form, won a prize sponsored by the Bolshoi Theatre and the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda in September 1932. It received its premiere by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Fritz Stiedry on March 22, 1935.
A choral symphony is a musical composition for orchestra, choir, and sometimes solo vocalists that, in its internal workings and overall musical architecture, adheres broadly to symphonic musical form. The term "choral symphony" in this context was coined by Hector Berlioz when he described his Roméo et Juliette as such in his five-paragraph introduction to that work. The direct antecedent for the choral symphony is Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Beethoven's Ninth incorporates part of the Ode an die Freude, a poem by Friedrich Schiller, with text sung by soloists and chorus in the last movement. It is the first example of a major composer's use of the human voice on the same level as instruments in a symphony.
The Sinfonia Concertante in B flat major, by Joseph Haydn was composed in London between February and March 1792. The work is a sinfonia concertante with four instruments in the solo group: violin, cello, oboe and bassoon. It is believed to be a response to similar works composed by Ignaz Pleyel, a former student of Haydn's who London newspapers were promoting as a 'rival' to Haydn. In addition to the solo group the Sinfonia Concertante is scored for flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings.
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.
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 important among Stravinsky's compositions as his first and longest completely dodecaphonic work, but is not often performed. It has been described as "austere" but also as a "culminating point" in his career as an artist, "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".
The Symphony No. 4 by Swiss composer Arthur Honegger is a work for orchestra, written in 1946 on a commission from Paul Sacher. Subtitled Deliciæ Basilienses, it was first performed on 21 January 1947, by the chamber orchestra Basler Kammerorchester under Sacher. On the same program were the premieres of two other works commissioned by Sacher: Igor Stravinsky's Concerto in D and Bohuslav Martinů's Toccata e due Canzoni.
Symphony on a Hymn Tune is a four-movement orchestral composition by the American composer Virgil Thomson. The work was Thomson's first symphony and was composed between 1926 and 1928 while Thomson studied with the composer Nadia Boulanger in Paris. However, the work was not premiered until February 22, 1945, with Thomson leading the Philharmonic Symphony Society in New York City.
Danses concertantes is a work for chamber orchestra by Igor Stravinsky, composed in 1942. A performance lasts about twenty minutes. Although written as an abstract ballet for concert performance, it has been choreographed numerous times.
Klaviermusik mit Orchester, Op. 29, is a 1923 piano concerto by Paul Hindemith. Subtitled Klavier nur linke Hand, it is a piano concerto for the left hand alone. It was commissioned by the pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in the World War. He never played the piece, and when he died, his widow refused access to the score. The premiere, after her death, was played in Berlin in 2004, with Leon Fleisher as the soloist and the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Simon Rattle. It was published by Schott.
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