Revolutionary Rhythms

Featuring

Karel Mark Chichon
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern
Igor Stravinsky
Sergei Prokofiev
Manuel de Falla

Did you know?

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Composition History

Many symphonic suites, like those on this album, originated as multi-sectional incidental music for plays, film scores, or ballets, later adapted for the concert hall.

Composition History

Sergei Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet was initially deemed "undanceable" by the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre and only premiered three years later in Brno, Czechoslovakia.

Compositional Technique

In Stravinsky's Firebird, the evil character Kastchei is represented by uncanny, deep sounds in trombones and woodwinds, while the Firebird is depicted with bright colors in winds and strings.

Album & Artwork

The album title "Revolutionary Rhythms" suggests a focus on works that broke new ground in their use of rhythm.

Historical Context

Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet can be seen as a parable of the system of fear, repression, and violence installed by Stalin in the Soviet Union, where feelings had no place.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Igor Stravinsky, composer of The Firebird, stated that the work was "thematically completely uninteresting" to him, as it required descriptive music he didn't wish to write.