Stravinsky: The Firebird

Featuring

Andrew Litton
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Igor Stravinsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Jean Sibelius
Frédéric Chopin

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Composition History

Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev after his first choices, Nikolai Tcherepnin, Anatoly Liadov, and Alexander Glazunov, either withdrew or were deemed unsuitable.

Composer Biography

Igor Stravinsky, the composer of "The Firebird," was a late starter in composition, not mastering basic elements until his twenties, despite his father being a principal bass singer at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Composition History

Sergei Diaghilev, an impresario who enthralled Parisian audiences with Russian music and ballet, commissioned Igor Stravinsky to orchestrate two pieces by Chopin, which began and ended the ballet "Les sylphides."

Compositional Technique

Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" includes a direct tribute to his teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov, by using the same Russian folk tune in the Princess's Round-dance that Rimsky-Korsakov used in his "Sinfonietta on Russian Themes."

Performer Biography

The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, featured on this recording, was founded in 1765, making it one of the world's oldest orchestras.

Compositional Technique

In "The Firebird," Igor Stravinsky uses rich chromatic harmony for supernatural beings and bright diatonic harmonies for human characters, a practice in Russian music dating back to Glinka's opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila."