In the years after World War I, Stravinsky found himself at an impasse as a composer, unwilling to return to the grand manner of the “Russian” ballets that had made him famous, but unsure how to proceed. Serge Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballets Russes, suggested a ballet based on themes by the Italian composer Giovanni Pergolesi (1710-1736) and showed him some of Pergolesi’s music. Stravinsky was entranced. Over the next year he composed a ballet with song in 18 parts, based on themes from Pergolesi’s operas and instrumental music. Stravinsky kept Pergolesi’s melodic and bass lines, but supplied his own harmony and brought to this music his incredible rhythmic vitality.
Stravinsky made several arrangements for instrumental duos of excerpts from Pulcinella. The arrangement of excerpts for cello and piano, made in 1932 by the composer and Gregor Piatigorsky, opens with a jaunty Introduzione (the ballet’s Overture), followed by a lyric Serenata, based on an aria from Pergolesi’s opera Il Flaminio. The Aria is a transcription of the bass aria “Con questo parolina” from Pulcinella, while the blistering Tarantella rushes to a surprising and sudden ending. The concluding section is in two parts: a slow Minuetto full of complex double-stops leads without pause to the exciting Finale. Notes by Eric Bromberger
Classical Music | Cello Music
Igor Stravinsky
Suite Italienne for Cello and Piano Play
Recorded on 02/10/2016, uploaded on 08/30/2016
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
In the years after World War I, Stravinsky found himself at an impasse as a composer, unwilling to return to the grand manner of the “Russian” ballets that had made him famous, but unsure how to proceed. Serge Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballets Russes, suggested a ballet based on themes by the Italian composer Giovanni Pergolesi (1710-1736) and showed him some of Pergolesi’s music. Stravinsky was entranced. Over the next year he composed a ballet with song in 18 parts, based on themes from Pergolesi’s operas and instrumental music. Stravinsky kept Pergolesi’s melodic and bass lines, but supplied his own harmony and brought to this music his incredible rhythmic vitality.
Stravinsky made several arrangements for instrumental duos of excerpts from Pulcinella. The arrangement of excerpts for cello and piano, made in 1932 by the composer and Gregor Piatigorsky, opens with a jaunty Introduzione (the ballet’s Overture), followed by a lyric Serenata, based on an aria from Pergolesi’s opera Il Flaminio. The Aria is a transcription of the bass aria “Con questo parolina” from Pulcinella, while the blistering Tarantella rushes to a surprising and sudden ending. The concluding section is in two parts: a slow Minuetto full of complex double-stops leads without pause to the exciting Finale. Notes by Eric Bromberger
More music by Igor Stravinsky
Danse Russe, from Petrushka
Rite of Spring
Apollo
Firebird Suite (arr. Agosti)
Danse Russe and The Shrovetide Fair, from Petrushka
Berceuse, from "The Firebird"
Five Easy Pieces
Petrushka (four tableaux)
Suite from Firebird
The Shrovetide Fair from Petrouchka
Performances by same musician(s)
Elegy for Cello and Piano
Sonata for Cello and Piano
Classical Music for the Internet Era™
Courtesy of International Music Foundation.