''Feu d'artifice'', Op. 4 () is a composition by
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...
, written in 1908 and described by the composer as a "short orchestral fantasy". It usually takes less than four minutes to perform.
Composition
Stravinsky composed ''Feu d'artifice'' as a wedding present for
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...
's daughter Nadezhda and
Maximilian Steinberg
Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg (; – 6 December 1946) was a Russian composer of classical music.
Though once considered the hope of Russian music, Steinberg is far less well known today than his mentor (and father-in-law) Nikolai Rimsky-Korsa ...
, who had married a few days before her father's death.
''Feu d'artifice'' helped develop Stravinsky's reputation as a composer, although it is not considered representative of his mature work. The work has some hints of
bitonality but is for the most part similar in style to that of Rimsky-Korsakov who, at the time, was his teacher and mentor. It has the form of a
scherzo
A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...
but is still labeled "orchestral fantasy" because of its short length.
Alexander Siloti conducted the premiere on 6 February 1909.
The accepted story is that Stravinsky got the commission from
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario an ...
to write ''
The Firebird
''The Firebird'' (; ) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who c ...
'' (1910) in part because Diaghilev heard this piece of music and was impressed with its orchestration.
However, Diaghilev had already commissioned Stravinsky to orchestrate two pieces of
Chopin (the ''Grande valse brillante'' and ''Nocturne in A flat'') for the ballet ''
Les Sylphides''.
Richard Taruskin
Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...
: 'Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions', Volume 1, p.579.
Instrumentation
The work is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes (2nd doubling cor anglais), 3 clarinets (3rd doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 2 percussionists (cymbals, bass drum, triangle, and glockenspiel), 2 harps, celesta, and strings.
References
External links
*
Compositions by Igor Stravinsky
1908 compositions
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