Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

's Concerto in D ("Basle") for string orchestra was composed in Hollywood between the beginning of 1946 and 8 August of the same year in response to a 1946 commission from

Paul Sacher Paul Sacher (28 April 190626 May 1999) was a Swiss conductor, patron and billionaire businessperson. At the time of his death Sacher was majority shareholder of pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and was considered the third richest person i ...

to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the (BKO—in English, Basel Chamber Orchestra), and for this reason is sometimes referred to as the "Basle" Concerto. It was premiered on 27 January 1947 in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

by the BKO, conducted by Paul Sacher.( Other sources say it was six days earlier, on the day of the orchestra's twentieth anniversary, 21 January, when two other works commissioned by Sacher were also premiered:

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...

's Symphony No. 4 ''Deliciae Basiliensis'' and

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

's ''Toccata e due Canzoni''. The Concerto in D was the first composition Stravinsky created after becoming a naturalised American citizen on 28 December 1945 and the first of his works to be published under the contract with his new publisher,

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 throu ...

. The concerto has been choreographed several times as a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, first by

Dore Hoyer Dore Hoyer (12 December 1911 – 31 December 1967) was a German expressionist dancer and choreographer. She is credited as "one of the most important solo dancers of the Ausdruckstanz tradition." Inspired by Mary Wigman, she developed her own s ...

at the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

in 1950. Later ballet versions were made by

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

, under the title of ''

The Cage The Cage may refer to: Sports * West Fourth Street Courts, also known as "The Cage", as of 1978, a public venue for amateur basketball in New York City * Al-Shorta Stadium, 1990-2014, former football stadium of Al-Shorta SC, nicknamed "The Cage ...

'' in 1951, by Werner Ulbrich, as ''Attis und die Nymphe'' at the Württembergisches Staatstheater, Stuttgart, in 1959 and by at the

Royal Ballet of Flanders The Royal Ballet of Flanders is a dance company based in Antwerp, Belgium, specializing in classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballet. In its current incarnation, the company was established in 1969. It tours internationally. History The ...

, as ''Acht'' in 1973.

Movements

The concerto has three movements:

References

Sources * * * * * * * *

External links

* * * , SCM Chamber Orchestra, September 2015, Verbrugghen Hall,

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

{{Authority control Concertos by Igor Stravinsky

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

Compositions for string orchestra 1946 compositions Compositions in D major Music commissioned by Paul Sacher