Continuity and change in Stravinskiy`s ballets. Стравинский и его балеты
Continuity and change in Stravinskiy`s ballets.
Written by: A. Bogdanov
Penglais school
2005
Music to me is a power
which justifies things.
(I. Stravinskiy)
Stravinskiy
Igor Fyodorovich, the famous Russian composer of 20-th century was born in
small village 17th June of 1882. His father was a famous exponent of
the leading bass parts at the St. Petersburg`s Opera and the young Igor thus
became familiar at the early age with the works of such Russian composers as
Musorgskiy, Glinka, Dargomyzhskiy.
One
of the fellow-students, was the youngest son of Rimskiy-Korsakov, who
introduced Stravinskiy to his father. From then until his death in 1908
Rimskiy-Korsakov played an important part in Stravinskiy`s early musical
formation.
At
the age of twenty-seven Stravinskiy was already famous, his first performance
in Paris, on 25 June 1910, of his ballet “The Fire-bird”, produced by Dyagilev
and Russian ballet, established him firmly in the eyes of the international musical
world as a composer of genius with a big future before him.
Stravinskiy
throughout his career refused to go on repeating himself. With inexhaustible
avidity he tackled new problems and pressed for new solutions. It happened more
than once that a phase of his career seemed to move in the opposite direction
from the one before. In retrospect, however, his various periods emerge as
necessary stages in a continuous evolution toward greater purity of style
and abstraction of thought.
Stravinskiy
began his compositional life as an exponent of the Russian National school.
“The Fire-bird” displays all the shimmer of Rimskiy-Korsakov`s orchestra along
with influences of French Impressionism). Here, as in the works that followed,
Stravinskiy worked within the frame of Russian folklore, drawing
sustence from popular songs and dance. All the same, from the beginning he was
aligned with those forces in Russian culture that were oriented toward the West
– especially those that were receptive to clarity and grace. He therefore was
free to move toward the universal values that underlie the classical outlook.
“The
Fire-bird” was written in 1910. In his firstwork for stage Sravinskiy followed
his master Rimskiy-Korsakov and did choose a Russian fairy-tale as the subject
of his ballet. He shows his acquaintance with contemporary French music very
clearly, using irregular ostinato rhythms. To create this story Stravinskiy
used sections from an earlier work - the opening of “Fireworks”, with its
resolute diatonic motifs. In “The Fire-bird” hero prince takes a folksong path
to catch the Fire-bird, as the bird moves between tonalities and orchestral
groupings in her rapid, melodic+rhythmic patterns patterns.
In
introduction to “The Fire-bord” Stravinskiy uses bass drum, cellos and double
basses to set the dark, mysterious atmosphere of Kashchey`s garden, darting,
rhytmic phrases for woowind. The piece ends with distant horn calls, and a
ripple of notes from the piano.
Dance
of the firebird is made up of glittering flashes of sound for woodwind and
piano. Later on there are intricate rhytmic patterns for the strings, and
colourful splashes of sound from the brass. Flourishes for piccolo and piano
give the impression of swift, darting movements.
In
horovod - round dance - flutes play a canon – one flute starts with the tune,
and second flute continue later with the same tune.
The
internal dance of king Kashchey is shown by vivid orchestral colours and
syncopated rhytms, that mirror the twisting, darting movements of the evil magician.
A shrieking chord for full orchestra – and a persistent rhytm begins on the
kettle-drum, palyed with wooden sticks. The main theme is played with brass
instruments.
In
the finale, Stravinskiy uses another Russian folk song indicating that he was a
nationalist composerof this time. It is played in turn by horn, violins,
atrings and woodwind, and full orchestra. This section illustrates
Stravinskiy`s mastery of orchestration.
A year separating "Petrushka" (1911) and
"The Fire-bird", is a significant distance for a quickly ripening
phenomenal talent of composer. While "The Fire-bird" still carries
sounds of the past, "Petrushka" looks in the future. Everything here
is new: folklore and new orchestra, new polythonality… But the main feature is
the magic of connection of different genre and semantic elements: a romantic
history and a folklore direction, Russian national theatre doll Petrushka and
characters of Italian "comedies of masks". The world of the people
and world of dolls coexist in Stravinskiy`s ballet.
The
simultaneous use of two keys (bitonality) and of several (polytonality) is one
of the Stravinskiy`s music features (and it is found in “Petrushka”). The
mainspring of Stravinskiy`s art is rhythm. He was a leader in the
revitalization of European rhythm. It is significant that his first great
success was won in the field of ballet, where rhythm is allied to dynamic body
movement and expressive gesture.
In “Petrushka” Stravinskiy used one famous chord
associated with the luckless hero of ballet. It is the kernel out of which the
work grew: a C-major arpeggio superposed upon one in F-sharp major: this is an
example of bitonality.
In “Petrushka” we encounter the laconic melodies,
resilient rhythms, and orchestral brightness that are composer`s very own. One
of the most original scores of the century, this is the best loved of the
Stravinskiy`s works for the theatre.
In one section an organ-grinder joins the gathering
accompanied by his lady dancer who pirouettes to the strains of a merry tune
played on the barrel organ. While he was working on the score of “Petrushka”
Stravinskiy had actually heard this tune played on a barrel-organ.
The brilliant and imaginative orchestration, rhythmic
and harmonic innovations combine to make “Petrushka” a masterpiece which is
moreover a landmark in the development of Russian music.
The premiere of “The Rite of Spring”, May 29, 1913, held
in Paris, was very controversial. Since the first minutes of performance such
extreme noise has risen, that dancers did not hear an orchestra. The “Rite”
opens with a solo bassoon playing a theme originally from Lithuania, though it
is reminiscent of some of the rhapsodic themes of the Carpathian shepherds, or
of a Tibetian tune. These astringent sounds take us back suddenly a prehistoric
world.
This ballet sets forth a new musical language based on
the percussive use of dissonance, polyrhythms and polythonality.
Dissonant chords in the dark register of the strings
exemplify Stravinskiy`s “elemental pounding”, their percussive quality is
heightened by the use of polytonal harmonies.
The dominance of pulse, which is of course the most conspicuously
revolutionary feature of “The Rite”, is equally obviously the main sourse of
its primitivism – this music restored to its condition before European
civilisation. Such things as the omnipresent ostinato of the “Dances of the
young girls” are the rudiments of Russian folksong released into separate
being, things more primitive than what is already a primitive stock. The effect
produced is truly brilliant, it sounds beutiful and fresh.
In his music, as in life, Stravinskiy was quick to
respond to changes, and new developments were assimilated into his music
freely. Stravinskiy`s later music was very varied.
During the war,
when Stravinkiy was already outside Russia, he continued to compose. In his
creativity the products of the small forms with use of folklore motives
prevailed. In 1914 he began work on his “The Wedding” and only in 1923 has
finished it. “The Wedding” was a sort of choreographic cantata descriptive of a
Russian peasant wedding. In 1918 was written "A History of the soldier ",
in which are used the recitation, pantomime and dances. Both these works are
written for much smaller orchestras or ensembles indicating Stravinskiy`s move
to the Neo classical style.
In 1918 Stravinsky produces “The
history of the Soldier”. Though it was written at the period when the composer
had severed connexion with his native country and was living in Switzerland, it
still belongs in style to his “Russian” period and it text is taken from
Russian folk-tale. The story, telling of a soldier, is apoken by a narrator,
while the action is mimed and danced. Tunes in this ballet are diatonic and
related to European art music. So, the tune of Royal March is combined of
snippets of early 19-th century Italian opera ans Spanish figurations. Before
his final dance the devil sings his triumph in a chorale. This looks like a
parody of a Bach chorale, but Bach`s chorale is an equation between melody and
harmony, while Stravinskiy`s piece there are few chords that could not be found
in Bach.
The style of
the Baroque Concerto Grosso can also be found in “Pucinella” when the strings
divide into two groups and there is contrast between loud and soft. Stravinskiy
does not use percussion in this ballet but the rhythmic impulse of the music is
still strong.
In 1919 Dyagilev invited the
composer to create a ballet based upon Pulcinella – the traditional hero of
many Italian comedies, the same as a Petrushka in Russia. Dyagilev suggested
that music should be based on tunes by the Italian composer Pergolesi of the
18-th century. Stravinskiy said: ”the remarkable thing about “Pulcinella” is
not how much but how little was added or changed”.
Nearly half of “Pulcinella” is made up from trio
sonatas, the rest comes from keyboard pieces, orchestral movements and arias.
Stravinskiy`s music is nearly always art to
the second degree, art about art. In the absence of a wider social context
Stravinskiy chose Western culture itself ‑ not in his historical sense
but as a contemporary phenomenon – as his subject matter. In so going he could
not help expressing the crisis of traditional culture ever as he defined a
musical sensibility that is still very much part of our contemporary awareness.