stravinsky's newest works

Stravinsky's Newest WorksAuthor(s): Colin MasonSource: Tempo, New Series, No. 53/54 (Spring - Summer, 1960), pp. 2-10+27Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/942475 .Accessed: 24/02/2015 10:34

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STRAVINSKY'S NEWEST WORKS

by Colin Mason

During i959 Stravinsky completed three new works. The largest of these, Move- ments, for piano and orchestra (duration about ten minutes), was begun in 19S8. It was commissioned by and dedicated to Margrit Weber, and was first performed by her, with the composer conducting, at a Stravinsky festival in New York in January this year. The other two works, both miniatures (their playing-time is about one minute each), were written in memory of two of Stravinsky's friends. The Double Canon (Raoul Dufy in memoriam), for string quartet, had its first performance at the same New York festival. The Epitaphiumfiir das Grabmal des Prinzen Max Egon zu Fiirstenberg (the patron of the Donaueschingen Festival), for flute, clarinet and harp, was first performed at Donaueschingen on 17 October, 1959.

In all three works Stravinsky continues to use twelve-note technique, and the Epitaphium is from this point of view the most interesting of them, as his first work in which the harmony is serially ordered throughout. In earlier works he has with rare exceptions used the series only melodically. Chordal presentation of series has been almost entirely confined to short introductory, cadential or ritornello-like instrumental passages, such as those in 'Surge, aquilo' in the Canticum Sacrum (e.g., bar 46); in the 'De Elegia Prima' in Threni (bars 23-26), and the 'Querimonia' of the same work (trombones only, bars 188-192, or chorus only, bars 179-I83-with a characteristic divergence from the strict order in the first two notes of the series); and in the 'Bransle Simple' (on a five-note, not a twelve-note, series), in Agon.

In the Epitaphium this method is maintained throughout. The work consists of eight statements of the twelve-note series (Ex. I), in seven phrases played alternately by the harp and by the pair of wind instruments. (The sixth phrase, played by the flute and clarinet, contains two statements of the series.) All four

Ex.1

S -- F... " ga M" # im " 4 i .. lop - '-

forms of the series are used, without transpositions, in the following carefully- planned order: basic set (hp), basic set (fl & cl), inversion (hp), retrograde inversion (fl & cl), retrograde (hp), retrograde followed by inversion (fl & cl), retrograde inversion (hp). The harp part is mainly harmonic (chordal), not contrapuntal in style, and the contrapuntal lines in the sections for flute and clarinet are serially complementary throughout, never independent. There is no complete melodic statement of the series in any one part, and only in four places does a single part contain as many as three consecutive notes of the series. Two consecutive notes occur more often, but equally often the series crosses from one part to the other with every note. As in several of Stravinsky's serial works there is a single divergence from the strict serial order at one point (the beginning of


STRAVINSKY'S NEWEST WORKS 3

the fifth statement). Exx. 2 and 3 are the last two sections. The work is in effect Ex.2

64=880)0

Ex.3 (.t so) table

4" 1

a miniature set of alternating variations on two themes or 'inventions' of quite different character, derived from the same series. It belongs to the line of magically self-contained miniature vocal and instrumental masterpieces that Stravinsky started writing in the second decade of the century, and took up again, after a lapse of thirty years, under the influence of Webern's music. In tone and manner, and in its delicate instrumental colour, the Epitaphium is closer to the works of the earlier period than any of the new miniatures of his serial period, and is one of the most beguiling to the ear of them all.

The Double Canon is much more severe, in form and expression as in instrumental colour. It is canonic in the strict traditional sense, not in the sense in which Stravinsky used to use the word 'canonic', as a euphemism for 'serial'. There are no octave transpositions, and the note-values are unaltered throughout. It is based on a very characteristic twelve-note theme, in which the first five notes are almost identical with the series of the In Memoriam Dylan Thomas (in its retrograde inversion), and the next five notes, which again are all within the compass of a major third, are a more remote permutation of it (see Ex. 4). The

Ex.4 A 0:60

VIa.

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me

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IL

FA-" --"--.. ' . . .. TIM n ...

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4 TEMPO

series is used here only melodically. There are twelve statements of the theme, of which only three forms are used (i.e., not the inversion). The two violins play the theme in canon four times, first the basic set at the major second (below) and at the unison, then the retrograde inversion at the major second (above) and at the unison. Against the middle pair of these canons the viola and cello play the retrograde form of the theme in canon first at the minor seventh (below) then at the octave. Ex. 4 shows the first half of the piece.

The combination of these inflexible lines of counterpoint is wonderfully harmonious and expressive, but the beauty of the piece is strikingly unlike that of Dufy's own bright, pretty, light-hearted art. The writing for the strings is sober. The first entry in each part is marked cantabile in mf, and the only other dynamic indications are tiny diminuendos and crescendos to mark the end or beginning of some of the later canonic entries. No instrumental 'effects' of scoring are used. No one part has a compass of more than a major ninth, and all four parts are contained within a compass of three octaves. In its gentle euphony it recalls the paradoxically serene unaccompanied vocal canons of the 'Querimonia' in Threni, not at all the tormented instrumental dirge-canons of the In Memoriam Dylan Thomas. Among Stravinsky's memorial works it is closer in mood to the Elegy for viola solo that he wrote for Germain Prevost in memory of Alphonse Onnou.

In Movements Stravinsky breaks new ground. Unless Agon is considered (as, like most of his ballets, it quite legitimately may be considered) primarily an orchestral work for concert performance, and only secondarily a ballet, Movements is his first major instrumental work since the Septet (I 953). It is also his first wholly serial instrumental work of any size. The Septet has serial passages (the first to appear in Stravinsky's music), and much of Agon is composed in this technique, but there are important non-serial sections in both.

For a concerto, Movements is on a small scale. There are five short movements, totalling 193 bars. Each movement except the last is followed by a short orchestral passage of a few bars, in which the piano is silent. These passages were originally marked 'interludes', but these markings were later struck out, so that they now appear in the score as detached codas to the preceding movements-though they are in fact more closely related in each case to the following movement, the tempo of which they prepare. The work is scored for a fairly small orchestra (without horns, timpani or percussion) which is never fully used. There are two flutes (second doubling piccolo), oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, two trumpets, three trombones (two tenor, one bass), harp, celesta and strings. Each movement, and each of the short sections originally called interludes, is scored for a different combination of instruments. The oboe and cor anglais are used only in the third movement, the bassoon only in the first, and the celesta only in the first and last.

The most radically new feature of Movements in Stravinsky's work is its mainly non-thematic construction. The jagged instrumental texture has been anticipated in parts of Agon, and most of what may appear different or new in the serial technique is merely a result of the non-thematic conception of the music- though the composer does juggle with the series more freely than in other recent works. Symmetry of form and far-reaching thematic development have rarely been part of Stravinsky's music, the continuity and formal coherence of which lie in the repetitions, variations and changing juxtapositions of alternating short sections, phrases and motives. In Movements there are hardly any distinctive



thematic motives, and therefore few repetitions. There are similarly few canons or other passages of thematic or imitative counterpoint. The nearest to thematic entities in the work, and they are harmonic rather than melodic ones, are the two characteristic perfect intervals within the series (see Ex. g). They become

Ex,5 = .. . . k = :: :' ;0 VPq

particularly prominent in the fourth movement. Stravinsky makes a plain statement of the series at the beginning of the work, but immediately follows it with an exceedingly garbled and confusing one (see Ex. 6). Many passages of both kinds occur throughout the work, the confusing ones chiefly in the first, third and fifth movements, where permutations of the various forms of the series (with the last note of each hexachord transferred to the beginning) come into use. Stravinsky's fairly frequent use, in these sections, of one hexachord alone from the series, without its consequent or antecedent, adds to the confusion, and some passages appear to conceal other refinements of serial construction that need further analysis.

Ex. 6

Flauto I

4 con sord. 8 C?L T ba I ;4

Piano 43 3 1 Piano -- 8f1 32 16

.piz . . :..

Pioliri .1 ='* 1

8

ev4o+ ostave

lower

Piano

pirg.

Pi~ano S


6 TEMPO

Musically the work has no such baffling passages, in spite of the lack of a 'thematic' argument-though naturally any musical impression or description of it, until it has been heard (the first European performance will be at Cologne on 17 June, 1960), can only be tentative.

The first movement (42 bars), in which all the orchestra is heard except second flute, oboe and cor anglais, is fairly quick (-=-

i o). Its first nine bars, quoted in Ex. 6, show its two main elements-the agitated unaccompanied line, and the harmonically prominent perfect fourths and fifths in the sixth and eighth bars. Two further short sections of each kind complete the first half' of the movement. In the last of these pairs of sections the agitated melodic line is joined by a second one, and continues into the following harmonic section. There is a climax of harmonic intensity here, followed by a resolution on to a pedal C, around which the series is turned inside out (notes 7 to I2 of the basic set, followed by notes 6 to i). The whole first part of the movement, except this cadence, is then repeated. For the continuation the tempo slackens to P=72. There is some harmonic and contrapuntal elaboration here, culminating in a melodically more expansive passage of counterpoint consisting of a simultaneous statement of the retrograde inversion (flute) against the inversion (bass clarinet and bassoon). The final section is a miniature cadenza for the soloist, reverting to the style of the opening, punctuated by single notes on the harp, and ending with a series of crisp dissonant chords for piano, celesta and harp.

The second movement is slow (J=52). This is scored only for piano, first trumpet, harp and a solo string quartet consisting of violin, viola, cello and double bass. It is only 22 bars long, and is in ternary song form-though still non- thematic. The first section is a ten-bar passage of quasi-canonic four-part counterpoint for piano, viola and cello, with a sparse accompaniment of held tremolo notes (some of them doubling the contrapuntal parts) for the harp, trumpet and piano. The first three bars are quoted in Ex. 7. In the middle

Ex.7 Ex. 7trem.

-=J ,~-~ -t Piano mpw

4647 48

VC._Solo_________=4-7___ co c-.1 ,P

I

arco solo A con sord..

Ar," R

f

section a single, continuous melodic line is divided among the instruments, again with one or two accompanying notes, which persist also in the 'reprise', where the four-part counterpoint is transmlluted into a simultaneous statement of all four forms of the series, each passing freely from one part to another



(Ex. 8). This passage is serially perhaps the most elaborate and the most dense that Stravinsky has yet written, though there is a near-precedent for it in Threni, where three forms of the series are combined in much the same way (bars Io8- III).

Ex.8 (I :-8

piano 3 4 ; 4 4

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....., . ... .

I'

i i

2K2

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3......47 Trr. -- ~ ....... tt t ....... . . II I .. ................................ ... ," ...,

, t 1 ,,-"o

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Solo

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4 V , I

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The third movement, only 18 bars in length, is the shortest of the five, scherzo-like in character, though still leisurely in pace (f-=72). It is scored for piano, all the woodwind except bassoon, two trumpets, and harp. In style and structure it is similar to the first part of the first movement, with quick florid outbursts alternating with more relaxed harmonic passages, building up to a harmonic climax and resolving on to a pedal. Ex. 9 shows the climax and the beginning of the B flat-F pedal on the clarinet, which, with the intermittent bass G on the harp, is sustained to the end against cadenza-like passages for the piano, oboe and two flutes.

The fourth movement, like the second, is slow (P= 8o), and is in another and more extended kind of song-form (40 bars). It is scored for the two flutes, piccolo, the two clarinets, trombones, and strings except violins. The form here is ternary-strophic, with a 'modulating' middle strophe. Here the two perfect intervals of the series are sustained throughout most of each strophe as a harmonic pedal on the high strings, against four varied rotations of the series. Ex. Io is the first strophe complete. The sequence of musical events in all three strophes is identical, the scoring is almost identical, and the corresponding entries in all three strophes are close musical variants of each other. In the first and third


8 TEMPO

strophes the two sustained perfect intervals are those of the retrograde inversion of the series, and in the middle strophe those of the basic set.

The fifth movement is the most complex in the work, and formally the least amenable to definition, description or analysis. Its harmonic complexity is prepared in the preceding five-bar 'interlude', in which the concerted brass and woodwind play simultaneously all eight hexachords of the four forms of the series (transposed up a major third), in the manner of the cadential passages for the eight soloists at the end of the 'Sensus Spei' in Threni (bars 309 and 3 2 i). This 'interlude' is quoted in full in Ex. I i. The movement that follows is similar in tempo

Ex.9 2) __)

Piano

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832 83 84 85 Ob.

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Ex.10

Piano

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..... .......... ..............""5 ".......................................... : " " .................. . ...................... I......................... '

Viols 2 IA

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" ".5 '3 " . 1 ....... . L . ] .. " ' 3

3 ................... ............... .... .... . ....... d'. vao -.--?

90 97

A

98 0 99 0 '0

100 101 102

'-. v - ,- .-............................ ..... .... ..,,....... . .... 4: H VC. div.... .......

.......................... ..

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3 31431 Piano 6 . ., 8,. 8 8

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Ex. 11. I-t ~ --I-------

II

Tboen

tent

Coarietto baseAt

Clarinetta

f 4

lato ba s

136 137 138 139 140

Tromlbni m.1

Viole

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i

tba

136 137 a11Ps

138 139 140

Vialini I. Hi

3r 8 >. 3 4Q-t -- rni 4 4

CaIiirAbani /f


Io TEMPO

(Q= o04), in instrumentation (omitting oboe, cor anglais and bassoon), in general musical character, and in its method of structure, which is 'dynamic' rather than 'formal', to the first movement, but maintains almost throughout the density of texture and intensity of harmony that in that movement occur only at the climaxes. There are more dynamic repetitions of notes and chords here than in any other movement, and the perfect intervals are swallowed up in more complex dissonant harmonic constructions. Ex. 1 2 shows the vehement repetitive chordal climax of the movement, a few bars before the work ends in sudden serenity with a simple melodic statement of the series (Ex. 13). Ex. 12

Piano if

.183 184 61 -'F A - - Orch. 9 q qHp. ... Str. 2j *f rrh.i 16 C I el. pf 9 S'' zp TI

Ex. 13 Piano

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7-"I

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Solal

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BolSolo ..p.p.zz.

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Tutti unis.

ve. IV &4I I I

pizz. if C. B, 1010

Fiz. f

EUROPEAN PREMIERE OF STRAVINSKY'S 'MOVEMENTS' The first performance in Europe of the Movements will take place in Cologne

on 17 June. The event forms part of the 34th Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music. The soloist is Margrit Weber.


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--- --I _lii

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................................... ii-i- - +I:..... ...

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A MS. page from Stravinsky's Movements for piano and orchestra.


Article Contentsp. [2]p. 3p. 4p. 5p. 6p. 7p. 8p. 9p. 10p. [27]

Issue Table of ContentsTempo, New Series, No. 53/54 (Spring - Summer, 1960), pp. 1-55Front MatterNotes [pp. 1+28-30]Stravinsky's Newest Works [pp. 2-10+27]A Note on Britten's 'Missa Brevis' [pp. 11-16]Bartk's 'Four Pieces' for Two Pianos[pp. 17-22]Britten's 'Cantata Academica' [pp. 22-26+31-34]Britten's New Opera: A Preview [pp. 34-48]Book GuideReview: untitled [pp. 49]Review: untitled [pp. 50-51]Review: untitled [pp. 51-52]Review: untitled [pp. 52-54]Review: untitled [pp. 54-55]Review: untitled [pp. 55]

Back Matter

stravinsky's newest works

Documents

new series

twelvenote series

new works

works stravinsky

retrograde inversion

inversion hp

retrograde hp

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