Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka began as a sketch for a concert piece for piano and orchestra, inspired by the idea of a puppet coming to life.
Compositional Technique
The title 'Symphonies' in Symphonies of Wind Instruments does not refer to traditional symphonic procedures, but to its older sense of 'sounding together'.
Compositional Technique
Stravinsky's Orpheus score echoes Gluck's operatic treatment of the myth in its Classical elegance and restraint, and features a prominent harp part symbolizing Orpheus's lyre.
Composition History
Stravinsky composed Orpheus for the Ballet Society of New York (later New York City Ballet) based on an idea proposed by Georgian-born choreographer George Balanchine.
Compositional Technique
The continuity of Petrushka imitates the then-new medium of film through its use of musical 'jump cuts' and 'dissolves'.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Stravinsky described his Symphonies of Wind Instruments as 'an austere ritual which is unfolded in terms of short litanies between different groups of homogeneous instruments'.
Compositional Technique
Petrushka incorporates Russian folk songs and a French music-hall tune, along with two waltz melodies by Viennese composer Joseph Lanner, giving it a popular flavor.
You might also enjoy...
Esa-Pekka Salonen Conducts Stravinsky
Interlinked – II. Reflection
Di Lorenzo, A.: Dracula [Ballet]
Bernstein: Dybbuk - The Complete Ballet
Shamil's Solemn March
Tcherepnin: Narcisse et Echo, Op. 40
Frank Martin: Das Märchen vom Aschenbrödel (Le conte de Cendrillon)
Sergey Akhunov: Ballet Liturgy
Feeney: Dracula
Schmitt: Tragedie De Salome (La)
Frank Martin: Ein Totentanz zu Basel im Jahre 1943
