Symphonies of Wind Instruments
Encyclopedia
The Symphonies of Wind Instruments (French title: Symphonies d'instruments à vent) 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 June 10, 1921, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky
.
A piano reduction by Arthur Lourié
was published in 1926 (White 1979, 292), a full score appearing only after Stravinsky shortened and re-orchestrated the work in 1947 (Howe 2006).
s (3rd doubling piccolo
), alto flute
, 2 oboe
s, English horn, 2 clarinet
s, alto clarinet
in F, 3 bassoon
s (3rd doubling contrabassoon
), 4 horns
, 3 trumpet
s, 3 trombone
s, and tuba
. The 1947 revision requires 23 players: 3 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, and tuba.
form, but rather in the word's older, broader connotation, from the Greek, of "sounding together" (White 1979, 292). The music of the Symphonies draws on Russian folk elements, and is constructed of "contrasting episodes at three different yet related tempos" (Harrison 1994).
The chorale
which concludes the piece was originally published in the magazine La Revue musicale in an edition entitled Le Tombeau
de Claude Debussy, which included short pieces from several composers, including Maurice Ravel
and Manuel de Falla
, dedicated to Debussy's memory (Freed 2006). It appeared as a piano score in the tombeau, although Stravinsky had conceived it as a piece for wind instruments and immediately set about writing the complete work.
, who attended the performance with Stravinsky, laughter broke out during the bassoon segment, and the conductor, Koussevitsky, "instead of stopping the performance and addressing the audience with a few words, assuring them that it was a serious work in the modern idiom, smiled maliciously and even had a twinkle in his eye as he looked over his shoulder at the laughing audience" (Rubinstein 1980, 173). A reviewer for the Times reported, however, that the hisses "were no sign of ill-will towards the composer", and subsided when Stravinsky stood up at the end of the performance to bow (Anon. 1921).
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
in 1920, for an ensemble of woodwind and brass instruments. The piece is in one movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
, lasting about 9 minutes. It is dedicated to the memory of Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, who died in 1918, and was premiered in London on June 10, 1921, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
.
A piano reduction by Arthur Lourié
Arthur Lourié
Arthur-Vincent Lourié, born Naum Izrailevich Luria , later changed his name to Artur Sergeyevich Luriye was a significant Russian composer. Lourié played an important role in the earliest stages of the organization of Soviet music after the 1917 Revolution but later went into exile...
was published in 1926 (White 1979, 292), a full score appearing only after Stravinsky shortened and re-orchestrated the work in 1947 (Howe 2006).
Instrumentation
The Symphonies was originally scored for a wind ensemble of 24 players: 3 fluteFlute
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...
s (3rd doubling piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
), alto flute
Alto flute
The alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range...
, 2 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, English horn, 2 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, alto clarinet
Alto clarinet
The alto clarinet is a wind instrument of the clarinet family. It is a transposing instrument pitched in the key of E, though instruments in F have been made. It is sometimes known as a tenor clarinet; this name especially is applied to the instrument in F...
in F, 3 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...
s (3rd doubling contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
), 4 horns
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 ....
, 3 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, and tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
. The 1947 revision requires 23 players: 3 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, and tuba.
Analysis
In the title of this piece, Stravinsky used the word "symphonies" (note the plural form) not to label the work as an essay in the symphonicSymphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
form, but rather in the word's older, broader connotation, from the Greek, of "sounding together" (White 1979, 292). The music of the Symphonies draws on Russian folk elements, and is constructed of "contrasting episodes at three different yet related tempos" (Harrison 1994).
The chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
which concludes the piece was originally published in the magazine La Revue musicale in an edition entitled Le Tombeau
Tombeau
A tombeau is a musical composition commemorating the death of a notable individual. The term derives from the French word for "tomb" or "tombstone". The vast majority of tombeaux date from the 17th century and were composed for lute or other plucked string instruments...
de Claude Debussy, which included short pieces from several composers, including Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
and Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
, dedicated to Debussy's memory (Freed 2006). It appeared as a piano score in the tombeau, although Stravinsky had conceived it as a piece for wind instruments and immediately set about writing the complete work.
Reception
The premiere at Queen's Hall, London, was greeted initially by laughter and derision from an audience unaccustomed to Stravinsky's experimental work. According to Arthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
, who attended the performance with Stravinsky, laughter broke out during the bassoon segment, and the conductor, Koussevitsky, "instead of stopping the performance and addressing the audience with a few words, assuring them that it was a serious work in the modern idiom, smiled maliciously and even had a twinkle in his eye as he looked over his shoulder at the laughing audience" (Rubinstein 1980, 173). A reviewer for the Times reported, however, that the hisses "were no sign of ill-will towards the composer", and subsided when Stravinsky stood up at the end of the performance to bow (Anon. 1921).
Further reading
- Cone, Edward T. 1962. "Stravinsky: The Progress of a Method". Perspectives of New Music 1, no. 1 (Fall): 18–26. Reprinted in Perspectives on Schoenberg and Stravinsky, edited by Benjamin Boretz and Edward T. Cone (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968; reissued New York: W. W. Norton, 1972): 155–64. Also reprinted in Edward T. Cone, Music: A View from Delft (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989): 293–301.
- Craft, Robert. 1983–84. "A. On the Symphonies of Wind Instruments. B. Toward Corrected Editions of the Sonata, Serenade, and Concerto for Two Pianos. C. The Chronology of the Octet". Perspectives of New Music 22, nos. 1 & 2:448–63.
- Gubernikoff, Carole. 2000. "Stravinsky: Symphonies d'instruments à vent". In Anais do I Seminário Nacional de Pesquisa em Performance Musical. I, edited by André Cavazotti and Fausto Borém. [Brazil]: Multimídia. (CD-ROM publication.)
- Hascher, Xavier. 2003. "De l’harmonie au timbre, vers une harmonie de timbres: L’exemple de Stravinsky". Analyse Musicale, no. 48 (September): 83–98.
- Kramer, Jonathan D. 1978. "Moment Form in Twentieth-Century Music". The Musical Quarterly 64, no. 2 (April): 177–95.
- Rehding, Alexander. 1998. "Towards a 'Logic of Discontinuity' in Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments: Hasty, Kramer, and Straus Reconsidered". Music Analysis 17, no. 1 (March): 39–65.
- Somfai, Lászlo. 1972. "Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920). Observations on Stravinsky's Organic Construction". Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 14, fasc. 1/4: 355–83.
- Straus, Joseph N. 1982. "A Principle of Voice Leading in the Music of Stravinsky". Music Theory Spectrum: The Journal of the Society for Music Theory 4:106–24.
- Van den Toorn, Pieter C. 1998. "Metrical Displacement in Stravinsky". Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, no. 11 (April): 24–28.
- Walsh, Stephen. 1996. "Stravinsky's Symphonies: Accident or Design?" In Analytical Strategies and Musical Interpretation: Essays on Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Music, edited by Craig Ayrey and Mark Everist, 35–71. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-46249-5.
- Wason, Robert W. 1994. "Toward a Critical Edition of Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments". In The Wind Ensemble and Its Repertoire: Essays on the Fortieth Anniversary of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, edited by Frank J. Cipolla and Donald Hunsberger, 121–40. Rochester: University of Rochester.
- Yuzefovich, Victor, and Marina Kostalevsky. 2002. "Chronicle of a Non-Friendship: Letters of Stravinsky and Koussevitzky". The Musical Quarterly 86, no. 4 (Winter): 750–885.