Concerto in E-flat (Dumbarton Oaks)
Encyclopedia
Concerto in E-flat (1937–38), subtitled “Dumbarton Oaks 8-v-1938,” is a chamber concerto by Igor Stravinsky
, named for the Dumbarton Oaks
estate of Robert Woods Bliss and Mildred Barnes Bliss
in Washington, DC, who commissioned it for their thirtieth wedding anniversary. Composed in Stravinsky's neo-classical
period, the piece is one of Stravinsky's two chamber concertos (the other being the Concerto in D
, for strings, 1946), and is scored for a chamber orchestra of flute
, E-flat clarinet
, bassoon
, two horn
s, three violin
s, three viola
s, two cello
s, and two double bass
es. The three movements, Tempo giusto, Allegretto, and Con moto, performed without a break, total roughly twelve minutes. The concerto was the last work Stravinsky completed in Europe, started in Spring 1937 at the Château de Montoux near Annemasse
, near Geneva
, Switzerland
, and finished in Paris on March 29, 1938 (White 1979, 400).
Noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger
, who admired Stravinsky's works and who had brokered the Blisses' commission (Brooks 2010, 75), conducted the May 8, 1938, private premiere in the music room at Dumbarton Oaks, at Stravinsky's invitation; the composer was recovering from tuberculosis
and thus unable to attend. The public premiere took place in Paris on June 4, 1938, at a concert of La Sérénade, with Stravinsky conducting (White 1979, 401). The full-score manuscript, formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, is in the Harvard University Rare Book Collection of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, Washington, D.C. (White 1979, 400).
Stravinsky himself created a reduction for two pianos (White 1979, 400). Leif Thybo
's 1952 transcription for organ
laid the foundation for his investigation of the possibilities of the modern form of the instrument (Jakobsen n.d.). A ballet, choreographed by Jerome Robbins
, was premiered by the New York City Ballet
on June 23, 1972 calling for one principal and six corps dancers of each sex (Anon. n.d).
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, named for the Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks is the conventional name for the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, situated on a historic property in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The institution is administered by the Trustees for Harvard University. Its founders, Robert Woods Bliss and his wife...
estate of Robert Woods Bliss and Mildred Barnes Bliss
Mildred Barnes Bliss
Mildred Barnes Bliss was an American art collector, philanthropist, and one of the cofounders of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, D.C....
in Washington, DC, who commissioned it for their thirtieth wedding anniversary. Composed in Stravinsky's neo-classical
Neoclassicism (music)
Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...
period, the piece is one of Stravinsky's two chamber concertos (the other being the Concerto in D
Concerto in D (Stravinsky)
Igor Stravinsky's Concerto in D for string orchestra was composed in Hollywood between the beginning of 1946 and 8 August of the same year in response to a 1946 commission from Paul Sacher to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Basel Chamber Orchestra , and for this reason is sometimes...
, for strings, 1946), and is scored for a chamber orchestra of flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, E-flat clarinet
E-flat clarinet
The E-flat clarinet is a member of the clarinet family. It is usually classed as a soprano clarinet, although some authors describe it as a "sopranino" or even "piccolo" clarinet. Smaller in size and higher in pitch than the more common B clarinet, it is a transposing instrument in E, sounding a...
, bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
, two horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s, three violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, three viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, two cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
s, and two double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es. The three movements, Tempo giusto, Allegretto, and Con moto, performed without a break, total roughly twelve minutes. The concerto was the last work Stravinsky completed in Europe, started in Spring 1937 at the Château de Montoux near Annemasse
Annemasse
Annemasse is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the border with Switzerland. It is the second town in the Haute-Savoie department with a population estimated to 29'450 in 2010.-Geography:...
, near Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and finished in Paris on March 29, 1938 (White 1979, 400).
Noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
, who admired Stravinsky's works and who had brokered the Blisses' commission (Brooks 2010, 75), conducted the May 8, 1938, private premiere in the music room at Dumbarton Oaks, at Stravinsky's invitation; the composer was recovering from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and thus unable to attend. The public premiere took place in Paris on June 4, 1938, at a concert of La Sérénade, with Stravinsky conducting (White 1979, 401). The full-score manuscript, formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, is in the Harvard University Rare Book Collection of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, Washington, D.C. (White 1979, 400).
Stravinsky himself created a reduction for two pianos (White 1979, 400). Leif Thybo
Leif Thybo
Leif Thybo was a Danish organist and composer. He studied theory with Vagn Holmboe before entering the Royal Danish Academy of Music where he was taught instrumentation by Poul Schierbeck, organ by Emilius Bangert, and theory by Finn Høffding...
's 1952 transcription for organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
laid the foundation for his investigation of the possibilities of the modern form of the instrument (Jakobsen n.d.). A ballet, choreographed by Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
, was premiered by the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
on June 23, 1972 calling for one principal and six corps dancers of each sex (Anon. n.d).
Sources
- Anon. n.d. "Repertory Index: Dumbarton Oaks". Robbins Rights Trust website (Accessed 16 September 2011).
- Benton, Rita. n.d. "Libraries", Grove MusicGrove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansThe New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
Online, ed. L. Macy, accessed 15 February 2006. - Brooks, Jeanice. 2010. "Collecting Past and Present: Music History and Musical Performance at Dumbarton Oaks." In A Home of the Humanities: The Collecting and Patronage of Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss, ed. James N. Carder, pp. 74–91. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks.
- Jakobsen, Erik H. A. n.d. "Thybo, Leif". Grove MusicGrove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansThe New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
Online, ed. L. Macy, accessed 15 February 2006. - Walsh, Stephen. n.d. "Stravinsky, Igor". Grove MusicGrove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansThe New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
Online, ed. L. Macy, accessed 15 February 2006. - White, Eric Walter. 1979. Stravinsky: The Composer and His Works, second edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03985-8.
External links
- Ledbetter, Steven. 1995. "Igor Stravinsky: Concerto in E-flat for chamber orchestra 'Dumbarton Oaks, 8.v.38'". Pro Arte website (archive from 12 March 2007, accessed 16 September 2011).
- Strugnell, Stephen. [2007]. "Stravinsky - Concerto in E flat 'Dumbarton Oaks' (12')". Scottish Chamber Orchestra website (archive from 28 September 2007, accessed 16 September 2011).