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Igor Stravinsky

58K views 272 replies 113 participants last post by  Neo Romanza 
#1 · (Edited)
I don't know how this guy is missing a forum of his own...



For me (and I suspect many others), the Leopold Stowkowski arrangement of The Rite of Spring for Walt Disney's Fantasia (accompanied by animated dinosaurs- What more could a kid want?!?) marked my introduction to Modern era classical music.

For some time, Stravinsky was my favorite composer, and I still hold him in particularly high regard. I daresay that it was Rite of Spring that shook the very foundations of the musical world and pretty much brought about an end to the Romantic era. Certainly, Romantic music continued to be produced, but the political climate of the world and Europe in particular called out for a musical language that was capable of expressing raw turmoil. In emphasizing unusual rhythms (and furthering the unusual harmonies being explored by folk-inspired nationalist composers), Stravinky delivered that idiom, and the musical world hasn't been the same since. Nor did he stop at primitivism- he was a leader, not a follower, at the forefront of later trends in neoclassicism and serialism.

To this day, and probably for the rest of my life, he will remain on my list of the top composers of all time, in the company of Beethoven, Wagner, and Mozart.
 
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#73 ·
There aren't any, I think. It is the only one composition by Stravinsky in such style. I believe there are no similar pieces composed in his "Russian" period and I do not have to bother to look for them in his later style periods. :)

Best regards, Dr
 
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#75 ·
I also thought about this, but I still find it improbable.

Best regards, Dr
 
#78 ·
Well, Rite was a ballet, so I'd recommend Petroushka since you've already rejected The Firebird as being "not Rite."

Try one of the 2-piano reductions available. Grierson/Tilson Thomas is one such example.
 
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#80 ·
Try one of the 2-piano reductions available. Grierson/Tilson Thomas is one such example.
The two that come closest are Les Noces and Symphony in Three Movements (although the middle movement is quite gentle, the outer movements burst with fury). And regarding his late works, which it seems I'm the only real expert on around here, no, he didn't ever try to imitate the sound or style of Le Sacre. The impression is always far more detached than visceral.
Thanks. Very helpful.
 
#82 ·
Great post, arpeggio! You can't go wrong with Ginastera, Chavez, or Revueltas (some of my favorite composers actually). The Antill is a very interesting work too. Since arpeggio mentioned Antill, I'll add Sculthorpe's Sun Music to the recommendation list as well as Verese's Ameriques.
 
#83 · (Edited)
Mahlerian's post is very accurate.

And there is no other piece which has a completely comparable sustained rhythmic drive, lyricism and vital sound.

Stravinsky was asked how he came up with it, what inspired it, etc. and his immediate response was, "I am the vessel through which Le Sacre passed."

Other works still remembered and performed which were also from that same vogue of nationalist primitivism are:

Sergei Prokofiev ~ a suite from his ballet Ala i Lolli called Scythian Suite.
(you might also enjoy his ballet, Chout.


Bela Bartok ~ another ballet score, The Miraculous Mandarin -- There is a concert suite as extracted by the composer, but I recommend the full-length ballet, as I do also for Stravinsky's already-mentioned Petrushka.
The Miraculous Mandarin...


Though quite different, I strongly second Mahlerian's suggestion of Stravinsky's Les Noces, for four pianos, percussion, chamber choir and vocal soloists as also 'primal' in another (very "non-western") manner, a masterpiece, and well worth a listen.
 
G
#84 ·
The most expensive CD that I purchased was "Rite of spring" by the Cleveland Orch cond Lorin Maazel it cost $31.95 and was the only work on the CD @33:20 admitedly it was on the 'Telarc' label which was in those days about the best CD available for Hi Fi audio and it still sound good to day
 
#85 ·
I liked the discussion here. With the 100th anniversary of The Rite of Spring, I've been reading about it, including in classical music magazines. Some of these works it influenced where mentioned. What an influential work it is. I was thinking of doing a thread on it separately, a thread on all composers/works it influenced. There are so many. But I don't have time to set it up and be thorough and also spend time replying as I'd like to. Not even sure if its been done already anyway?

But two others are Copland - esp. things like Appalachian Spring - and Orff's Carmina Burana.
 
#91 ·
I recently picked up the Michael Tilson Thomas collection for the Persephone.

I am becoming really interested in the work. I hadn't realized that it has been recorded so few times.

Upon a cursory glance all I could find were versions by Stravinsky, Nagano, and the Tilson Thomas - 3 recordings in 60 years; could that be right?

Any thoughts on this work? I've only listened to it a few times but I am surprised that it gets so little attention.

On a side note I attended a program of The Circus Polka and Petrouchka a few months ago. The performance of Petrouchka was utterly charming.
 
#102 ·
This thread is rapidly aging (unlike the rest of us) but I'd like to add this single - perhaps not so simple - point: I believe that Stravinsky will be seen a century from now as the Bach of the 20th century. He is that important; it astounds me that even among many knowledgeable classical fans there are many that have not heard some of his most intriguing work. I also wonder how many of us enjoyed his 'bio-pic" (of a sort, at least a chapter or two of his life): Jan Kounen's Coco & Igor ? Three thumbs up from me (so good I thought I'd sprout a new one just for my review).
 
#103 · (Edited)
This thread is rapidly aging (unlike the rest of us) but I'd like to add this single - perhaps not so simple - point: I believe that Stravinsky will be seen a century from now as the Bach of the 20th century. He is that important
This has already been said of Stravinsky, pretty consistently, in history books since the last quarter of the 20th century. That century now done and gone, I can see no reason I can think of to think his music, its importance and stature in proportion to the balance of music literature up to that date will be reassessed as anything less, and that he will keep that title 'Bach of the 20th century.'

He is given that appellation because, like Bach, Stravinsky 'summed up' the preceding two centuries of musical practice which came before in a fully understanding synthesis as the basis for new invention. That resulted in a plain, clear and fresh musical voice unlike any before it.

Unlike Bach, in so doing, he also catapulted a dramatic change in the direction of music of his time which had an immediate, widespread and long lasting influence upon numbers of other composers throughout that century.

This is a composer whose nearly every piece, great or small, has the hallmarks of 'masterly' and masterpiece' upon them.
 
#117 ·
Stravinsky Contra Water Birds in Bridal Dresses



"To listen is an effort, and just to hear is no merit. A duck can hear."

- Stravinsky

He's an optimist though. He's never had that much experience listening to his later works; clever as they are.
 
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#119 · (Edited)
Can anyone please tell me how well does Gielen's recording of Moses und Aron compare to those of Boulez?

Apologies for asking a non-Stravinksy question.
 
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#120 ·
Can anyone please tell me how well does Gielen's recording of Moses und Aron compare to those of Boulez?

Apologies for asking a non-Stravinsky question.
I don't know Gielen's. Both of Boulez's are excellent, and I can recommend the Kegel on Berlin Classics as well. I think the Naxos recording with Kluttig is rather poor. Scherchen's is a good performance, but abysmal sound. Some of the worst I've ever heard on a classical recording.
 
#121 ·
Thanks for your reply, M.
 
#123 ·
when talk Le Sacre du Printemps we should keep in mind that Stravinsky was hugely influenced by The Mighty Five, namely Mussorgsky's The Pictures At An Exhibition and Rimsky-Korsakov works like The Snow Maiden etc., this is where avantgarde really took its start.
 
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