MHL 603 – TOPIC 1 – STRAVINSKY - 2

“NEOCLASSICISM”

1. Review Stravinsky’s circumstances – 1914-1952

1914-1918 – Stranded by war in France and Switzerland

1918-1924 – Russian Revolution – loses sources of income and inspiration -

1924-1939 – Supports self via composing and performing – diverse projects with a variety of people (Diaghilev, Cocteau, Dushkin, Kirstein)

1939 – to USA

Between 1918 and 1924 Stravinsky finished a few works on Russian themes (Mavra, 1922, Les Noces, 1923) but was moving away from Russian nationalism and folklore toward an aesthetic that can be characterized (cautiously) as “neoclassical” – Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1921) was early example of new aesthetic

2. Neoclassicism

Often applied to composers and musical styles after WW I – e.g. Hindemith, Milhaud, Martinu, Weill and especially Stravinsky - Origins of term not clear - Busoni (1920) talked about “junge Klassizität" by which he meant music that acknowledged, assimilated and transcended masterworks of the past -

Stravinsky didn’t coin this term, nor did he apply it to himself or his music –But critics of the 1920s noted Stravinsky’s striking change of style between 1918 and 1924 and explained it as “neoclassicism”

Several possible meanings of “neoclassicism”

Anti-romantic – emphasizing musical form rather than personal expression

Referring to or reviving music of the past (styles, forms, specific pieces)

Referring to classical antiquity (i.e. Greece and Rome)

Tonal – vs. atonal music of Schoenberg et al. – (but “neo”-tonal)

All 4 meanings apply to Stravinsky works

Anti-romantic – Octet, Symphonies of Winds, Symphony of Psalms, Agon – non-lyrical, wind sonorities, motor rhythms, plateau dynamics, short, non-narrative, non-referential (i.e. aren’t about anything)

Neo-tonal – Serenade in A, Symphony in C – many other (most?) works have key signatures

Referring to past styles – Octet (Sinfonia, T & V), Dumbarton Oaks Concerto (concerto grosso), Rake’s Progress (18^th-century opera)

Referring to specific pieces – Jeu de cartes (refers to Rossini), Pulcinella (refers to “Pergolesi”)

Referring to classical antiquity – Persephone, Apollo, Oedipus Rex, Orpheus – Choice of remote subject

Stravinsky’s anti-romantic pronouncements – In conversation, interviews and writings Stravinsky made fun of the “excesses” of 19^th-century music and called for music that “expressed nothing” – Some ideas about my Octuor (1924): “my octet is a musical object. This object has a form and that form is influenced by the musical matter with which it is composed.”– Chronicles of my Life (1936): “The phenomenon of music is given to us with the sole purpose of establishing an order in things . . . “ “[People] never seem to understand that music has an [existence] of its own apart from anything that it may suggest to them.”

3. Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1921)

Not clear what its original purpose was – it may have been an essay in non-romantic techniques – first sketches were for harmonium

First completed section was the final chorale, scored for piano – Stravinsky contributed it in 1920 to a memorial collection to the memory of Debussy (d. 1918) – Several commentators hear SWI as an evocation of the Russian funeral liturgy (e.g. note online)

Role of chorale – It’s heard in fragments at the beginning, more and more explicitly as piece continues – Heard in entirely at the end

PLAY ending, then beginning – Chorale is “layer B” in Cone’s analysis – Stravinsky used similar technique later in theme and variations where piece begins with variation, and theme isn’t heard until the end (e.g. Sonata for 2 pianos)

“Symphonies” (plural) seems to refer to the different groupings of wind instruments, which “sound together” in various combinations over the course of the piece

Confusion of editions – Stravinsky revised in 1947 – 2 big changes: 1) rescored to eliminate alto flute and f clarinet, makes it more practical for standard wind ensembles; 2) rebarred, mainly with smaller measures – e.g at beginning 1921 version has 3 bars of 5/8, 1947 version alternates 2/8 and 3/8 – Posted score is 1947 but recording is 1921 (sorry ‘bout that)

PLAY beginning again – LISTEN for “neoclassical” features (if any)

4. Stravinsky’s harmonies

Octotonic scale

Everyone seems to agree that Stravinsky’s harmonies are striking – Both of his Russian period works and his “neoclassical” works – His harmonies have been much imitated by other composers – But there is much disagreement over how to analyze these harmonies

What are characteristics? – Examples: HANDOUTS - PLAY

Petrushka - Russian Dance

SWI – Chorale – 12/6:50

Orpheus – Dance of the Furies – track 19

List characteristics

Non-diatonic

Sense of tonal center

Endemic dissonance

Unexpected harmonies – notes out of place – even in cadences

Careful voice-leading

Theoretical accounts

modified diatonic (Cone) – dissonances can be interpreted either as added pitches or as chords of 11, 13, etc

polytonality – either a) 2 keys operating at same time (much criticized) or as superimposed chords which retain function

octatonic – Explain! - currently fashionable (Taruskin) – octa-diatonic combined (van den Toorn) – Tymoczko’s argument against

multiple scales – diatonic, modal, octatonic, altered minor (Tymoczko)

Explanations applied to Russian dance

diatonic – sense of key, esp in melody

superimposed chords – function?

Is octatonic plausible (no)

melodic minor scales

Explanations applied to Chorale

sense of key? 65 vs. 71 vs. 75 –

superimposed chords? function

octatonic possibilities? – again probably not

5. Orpheus (1947)

Composed for George Balanchine at New York City Ballet – Balanchine had been one of Diaghilev’s choreographers, and Stravinsky had worked with him on Apollo (1928) – Balanchine and Stravinsky hooked up again in the US and collaborated on four ballets ("Jeu de Cartes," "Circus Polka," Orpheus, and Agon) – Balanchine also choreographed many pieces that Stravinsky had composed for other occasions

Tells a story, like Petrushka, but it is a very familiar story, so the music and dance don’t have to narrate – Instead they “represent” the story – More abstract

Scenario - Scene one: Orpheus grieves for Euridice, the Angel of death takes pity on Orpheus and leads him to the underworld

Scene 2 – The furies bar Orpheus’s path, Orpheus charms them with his song (interrupted by the tormented souls), Euridice is restored to Orpheus, he is blindfolded, O and E are led toward earth (pas de deux), Orpheus looks back, E disappears, O is torn to pieces by the Bacchantes

Scene 3 – Apotheosis: Apollo takes Orpheus and his lyre to heaven

Representation of classical antiquity

costumes

musical modes – suggested, not consistent

“classical” dance – (sorry, I don’t have video)

Emotion – Craft points out that Stravinsky marks several passages “espressivo” a marking he hadn’t used since Firebird – Does this contradict his neoclassical aesthetic?