“Stravinsky: a Midlife Blend of Old & New” concert

“Stravinsky: a Midlife Blend of Old & New” concert

Timing: 20h00, June 13, 2024
Venue: Ho Guom Opera
Price: 300.000đ | 500.000đ | 800.000đ | 1.000.000đ
Ticketing: 0965 765 946 – 0913 489 858
For your booking: https://forms.gle/brFjKr7gcapKYSvc7

Explore with the Sun Symphony Orchestra as we look at some of the captivating works of Igor Stravinsky’s middle period and and era of composition known as “Neoclassicism”.

IGOR STRAVINSKY | OCTET

Russian composer Igor Stravinsky was without a doubt one of the most important musical figures of the 20th Century. Known primarily for his three nationalistic, large-scale ballets (Firebird, Petrushka and the Rite of Spring), Stravinsky entered a new chapter of compositional style after World War I – a style which would see a marked departure from his more Romantic and expressive scores pre-war. The Octet was one of the first works Stravinsky introduced to the public in this new style, one of many he wrote during this period of what is known as Neoclassicism, or a return to structure, clarity and focus on counterpoint and well-organized music.

Stravinsky once claimed that “form, in my music, derives from counterpoint. I consider counterpoint as the only means through which the attention of the composer is concentrated on purely musical questions. Its elements also lend themselves perfectly to an architectural construction.” And although he was not a fan of the term “Neoclassicism”, he evidently espoused its principles closely, having conducted the premiere of the Octet for fear of having a conductor leading it with “interpretation”, which he felt this music certainly did not need. While Neoclassicism was hardly a creation of Stravinsky’s (Prokofiev, Grieg, Liszt and others had written in an “old style” before), Stravinsky made it an entire musical chapter in his life. His midlife consisted primarily of this quest to produce music that looked to the past, while maintaining a contemporary voice – Stravinsky’s voice, which featured rhythmic complexity and harmony that were uniquely his.

On the Octet, another titan of the 20th Century, composer Aaron Copland commented “I can attest to the general feeling of mystification that followed the initial hearing. Here was Stravinsky  . . .  now suddenly, without any seeming explanation, making an about-face and presenting a piece to the public that bore no conceivable resemblance to the individual style with which he had hitherto been identified”. Or perhaps this was his style, and not the Russian traditional style of his earlier years.

Either way, his Octet is a world apart from his pre-war compositions (and even from his already Neoclassicist Pulcinella ballet of just three years prior). Featuring an unusual combination of flute, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone and 1 bass trombone, the music does indeed exhibit a much less colorful palette than, say, his Rite of Spring, and can also be mistaken for comedy, for its quirky character. The idea for this piece came to Stravinsky in a dream, from which he awakened and immediately began writing. Shaped in a Classical symphony (minus the usual minuet), this 3-movement work has a first movement with slow introduction, two contrasting themes, and a development section in sonata form. The second movement is a theme with variations, and the last a rondo. The octet marks a new chapter in Stravinsky’s compositional life that is as opposite as could be from the music of – for instance – Wagner (to which he was exposed from childhood).

Stravinsky claimed his principle was “to recompose, and not only students’ works, but old masters’ as well. When composers show me their music for criticism, all I can say is that I would have written it quite differently. Whatever interests me, whatever I love, I wish to make it my own [I am probably describing a rare form of kleptomania.]”.

STRAVINSKY | APOLLON MUSAGÈTE
With his ballet “Apollon Musagète” (often known simply as Apollo), Stravinsky is fully in the middle of his Neoclassical period. Whereas the last work on the programme (Pulcinella) stems from 1920 and the beginning of his new musical chapter, by the time we roll around to 1928 and Apollo, we have a drastically different Stravinsky.

Written for only the strings of the orchestra, the ballet is in two tableaux (or scenes), and was written as a commission for a contemporary music festival to be held at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. Stravinsky had first visited the United States four years before in 1924; his life would become increasingly grounded in this country, as he would eventually take up residence from 1939 until his death in 1971.

The requirements from the commission of Apollo were that it involve only a maximum of 6 dancers, and very small orchestra, and last no more than one hour; the subject of the ballet would be Stravinsky’s to choose.

As he had for a while wanted to write music surrounding Greek mythology, Stravinsky took this opportunity, selecting for the main subject Apollo, leader of the muses – the goddesses of literature, the arts, and science. Stravinsky reduced the muses from nine to three for his ballet, and the variations in the ballet feature dances with Apollo (God of music) and these three muses – Terpsichore (Goddess of dance), Calliope (Goddess of poetry), and Polymnia (Goddess of pantomime).

Apollo is the first of three neoclassical ballets by Stravinsky. It combines classicism and modernism in a unique way; the Greek mythology elements, coupled with the clean lines of the music, the French overture (with syncopated rhythm) that opens the ballet, are an interesting partnering to the monochromatic ballet elements (in comparison to his large-scale ballets that preceded the war) that permeate Apollon Musagète.

At the time of composition, Stravinsky was at a crossroads in his personal life; having fallen in love with a woman outside of his marriage – and keen on staying faithful to his wife – Stravinsky was attempting to rediscover himself through reflection and increased participation in the church while writing about Apollo, who discovered himself while becoming the leader of the muses.
At first, Stravinsky attempted to write for an orchestra that was too large for the stage available for the premiere. He later acquiesced, but apparently, once finished composing it, showed no interest in attending the premiere of the work.

Interestingly, Stravinsky did not allow performers to take expressive liberties with his music; he wanted it played as written. One can hear this from recordings that still exist today of Stravinsky conducting his works, including Apollo. The performances are as straightforward as possible; not to say they are void of expression or musicality, but that Stravinsky avoided greatly to have overt interpretation (if any) by the musicians, or for that matter by him, get in the way of the music which already existed by way of the notes on paper.

Nevertheless, Apollo is a mesmerizing work; the listener may benefit from an open ear and mind when approaching this piece, however, as it is radically different from Stravinsky’s earlier works. The simplicity is the beauty in this music. The famous saying that ‘less is more’ seems quite apt here. At the same time, the piece has all the hallmarks of Stravinsky’s technical demands, and the Sun Symphony Orchestra has had a revealing time preparing it for this concert. It is a rewarding musical masterpiece to perform, and we hope that our audience will feel captivated by its unique beauty.

STRAVINSKY | PULCINELLA SUITE
The final work, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite, is a collection of movements from his larger work by the same name. Originally for orchestra and three singers, the work was composed in 1920, and the idea for its creation was the legendary impresario Sergei Diaghilev’s wish to have music for a new ballet, suggested by choreographer Léonide Massine on the subject of the Pulcinella stories from the Italian commedia dell’arte tradition.

Stravinsky chose to take this project but instead of writing for large orchestra, chose a smaller orchestra; he claimed: “musical ‘effects’ are usually obtained by the juxtaposition of nuances; a piano following a forte produces an “effect.” But that is the conventional, accepted thing. I have tried to achieve an equal dynamism by juxtaposing the timbres of the instruments which are the very foundation of the sound material. A color only has value in relation to the other colors which are placed next to it. Red has no value itself. It only acquires it through its proximity to another red or a green, for example. And that is what I have wanted to do in music, and what I look for first of all is the quality of the sound. I also look for truth in a disequilibrium of instruments, which is the opposite of the thing done in what is known as chamber music, whose whole basis is an agreed balance between the various instruments.”

The music for Pulcinella was derived in large part from music taken from trio sonatas of Domenico Gallo (formerly thought to have been Pergolesi). On tonight’s programme, you will hear a movement from this music before the Pulcinella, to serve as reference point for the similarities Stravinsky drew from the Baroque, and in constrast to the harmonic and stylistic deviations he adds to his score. Just as choreographer Massine performed in a mask stylized to recall the costumes of commedia dell’arte performers, Stravinsky wears a musical mask while orchestrating the music. The music is not new (mostly), yet there is a constant reminder that this is Stravinsky, and almost no longer Gallo at all. The final movement of Pulcinella is the closest to Russian style that Stravinsky gets in his composition – while taken again from a Gallo trio sonata, the harmonic tools are uniquely Stravinsky’s and this movement sounds like it could have been taken from any of his previous ballets. Pulcinella was truly a transitional work, leading us from the pre-war Russian chapter of Stravinsky to what would turn out to be one of the most important chapters of 20th Century music – the neoclassical period that mixes old with new so captivatingly.