June 16, 2014.Igor Stravinsky was born on June 17th, 1882, in Oranienbaum, outside of Saint Petersburg.We celebrate his birthday every year (for example, here and here): he was one of the most influential composers of the 20th century and so multi-faceted that during his life he managed to affect several very different styles in the development of classical music.From the orchestral opulence, new sounds and rhythms of his Russian period, to the exquisite neoclassical reserve that followed, to the serialism of his later years – each of these periods didn’t just produce great masterpieces, they produced music that affected generations of composers.
Stravinsky turned to neoclassicism around 1920 (he actually didn’t like the term and thought it to be rather meaningless).Neoclassicism was to a large extent a reaction to the late Romantic, programmatic music, an attempt to revert to the earlier, Baroque or even pre-Baroque sensibilities.Stravinsky was not the first one to write in this style: Richard Strauss’s Le bourgeois gentilhomme Op. 60, which was written in 1911, and especially Prokofiev’s Symphony no. 1, composed in 1917, could be considered the precursors.But for Strauss and Prokofiev these were interesting but fleeting experiments without much of a follow-up.It was Stravinsky who molded this approach into a much more consistent paradigm.It’s interesting that around the same time another artist who also worked in many different styles, the supremely talented Picasso, also entered into his neoclassical phase, together with many Italian artists who in the following years unfortunately veered toward fascism.
One of Stravinsky’s first neoclassical pieces was Pulcinella, which was also his first ballet created for Diagilev’s Ballets Russes since the Rite of Spring seven years earlier. Diagilev wanted to stage a ballet based on the Italian Commedia del’Arte.Commedia developed in Italy as early as the 17th century, as an improvisational theatrical performance, with a set of stock characters.They were the roguish Arlecchino; his sidekick Brighella; Pantalone, a rich merchant; Pulcinella, who chased pretty girls; Pierrot and Pierrette, and many others.Diagilev, very much a co-creator of his ballets, also wanted to use several old tunes; at the time they were attributed to Pergolesi but it turned out later that they might have been written by other composer.Ernest Ansermet, the Ballets Russes’ chief conductor, wrote to Stravinsky about Pergolesi, a 17th century Italian with a tragically short life who wrote several comic operas.Stravinsky, not too familiar with Pergolesi’s music, had to study the scores.He borrowed several themes, adopted the pseudo-Baroque mannerisms and tempos, and used them to create something new and highly original.The one-act ballet was scored for a chamber orchestra and three singers; it premiered in the Paris Opera on May 15, 1920, Ernest Ansermet conducting.The set designs were by Picasso.Some years later Stravinsky created an orchestral suite based on the ballet with no singing parts.He also wrote two different Suites Italienne based on the same music, one for the cello and piano, in collaboration with Gregor Piatigorsy, and another for the violin and piano that he worked on with Samuel Dushkin.(Dushkin and Stravisnky had also worked together on the Violin concerto, which Dushkin premiered in 1931).We have both of the instrumental versions in our library: here’s the one for the cello performed by Alexei Romanenko with Christine Yoshikawa on the piano; and here’s the one for the violin, with Janet Sung and Robert Koenig.But what we’d like to hear today is the original version of the ballet, the one for the orchestra with singers.This, in particular, is an interesting performance from a historical perspective: the conductor in the 1965 recording is the same Ernest Ansermet, 45 years after the premier (at the time of the recording he was 82 years old).Marilyn Tyler is the soprano, Carlo Franzini the tenor, Boris Carmeli the baritone.The orchestra is L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.To listen, click hear.The photo of Stravisnky, above, was made one year after the premier of Pulcinella, in 1921.
Stravinsky 2014
June 16, 2014. Igor Stravinsky was born on June 17th, 1882, in Oranienbaum, outside of Saint Petersburg. We celebrate his birthday every year (for example, here and here): he was one of the most influential composers of
the 20th century and so multi-faceted that during his life he managed to affect several very different styles in the development of classical music. From the orchestral opulence, new sounds and rhythms of his Russian period, to the exquisite neoclassical reserve that followed, to the serialism of his later years – each of these periods didn’t just produce great masterpieces, they produced music that affected generations of composers.
Stravinsky turned to neoclassicism around 1920 (he actually didn’t like the term and thought it to be rather meaningless). Neoclassicism was to a large extent a reaction to the late Romantic, programmatic music, an attempt to revert to the earlier, Baroque or even pre-Baroque sensibilities. Stravinsky was not the first one to write in this style: Richard Strauss’s Le bourgeois gentilhomme Op. 60, which was written in 1911, and especially Prokofiev’s Symphony no. 1, composed in 1917, could be considered the precursors. But for Strauss and Prokofiev these were interesting but fleeting experiments without much of a follow-up. It was Stravinsky who molded this approach into a much more consistent paradigm. It’s interesting that around the same time another artist who also worked in many different styles, the supremely talented Picasso, also entered into his neoclassical phase, together with many Italian artists who in the following years unfortunately veered toward fascism.
One of Stravinsky’s first neoclassical pieces was Pulcinella, which was also his first ballet created for Diagilev’s Ballets Russes since the Rite of Spring seven years earlier. Diagilev wanted to stage a ballet based on the Italian Commedia del’Arte. Commedia developed in Italy as early as the 17th century, as an improvisational theatrical performance, with a set of stock characters. They were the roguish Arlecchino; his sidekick Brighella; Pantalone, a rich merchant; Pulcinella, who chased pretty girls; Pierrot and Pierrette, and many others. Diagilev, very much a co-creator of his ballets, also wanted to use several old tunes; at the time they were attributed to Pergolesi but it turned out later that they might have been written by other composer. Ernest Ansermet, the Ballets Russes’ chief conductor, wrote to Stravinsky about Pergolesi, a 17th century Italian with a tragically short life who wrote several comic operas. Stravinsky, not too familiar with Pergolesi’s music, had to study the scores. He borrowed several themes, adopted the pseudo-Baroque mannerisms and tempos, and used them to create something new and highly original. The one-act ballet was scored for a chamber orchestra and three singers; it premiered in the Paris Opera on May 15, 1920, Ernest Ansermet conducting. The set designs were by Picasso. Some years later Stravinsky created an orchestral suite based on the ballet with no singing parts. He also wrote two different Suites Italienne based on the same music, one for the cello and piano, in collaboration with Gregor Piatigorsy, and another for the violin and piano that he worked on with Samuel Dushkin. (Dushkin and Stravisnky had also worked together on the Violin concerto, which Dushkin premiered in 1931). We have both of the instrumental versions in our library: here’s the one for the cello performed by Alexei Romanenko with Christine Yoshikawa on the piano; and here’s the one for the violin, with Janet Sung and Robert Koenig. But what we’d like to hear today is the original version of the ballet, the one for the orchestra with singers. This, in particular, is an interesting performance from a historical perspective: the conductor in the 1965 recording is the same Ernest Ansermet, 45 years after the premier (at the time of the recording he was 82 years old). Marilyn Tyler is the soprano, Carlo Franzini the tenor, Boris Carmeli the baritone. The orchestra is L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. To listen, click hear. The photo of Stravisnky, above, was made one year after the premier of Pulcinella, in 1921.