![Igor Stravinsky Essays](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Igor_Stravinsky_Essays.jpg)
The Octet for wind instruments is a
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
composition by
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 ...
, completed in 1923.
Stravinsky’s Octet is scored for an unusual combination of
woodwind
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...
and
brass instruments:
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
,
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
in B and A, two
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
s,
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
in C, trumpet in A, tenor
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
, and bass trombone. Because of its dry
wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
sonorities,
divertimento
''Divertimento'' (; from the Italian '' divertire'' "to amuse") is a musical genre, with most of its examples from the 18th century. The mood of the '' divertimento'' is most often lighthearted (as a result of being played at social functions) and ...
character, and open and self-conscious adoption of "classical"
forms
Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens.
Form also refers to:
*Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data
* ...
of the
German tradition (
sonata
Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...
,
variation,
fugue
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
), as well as the fact that the composer published an article asserting his
formalist ideas about it shortly after the Octet's first performance, it has been generally regarded as the beginning of
neoclassicism
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
in Stravinsky's music, even though his
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
''
Mavra
''Mavra'' is a one-act comic opera composed by Igor Stravinsky, and one of the earliest works of Stravinsky's neo-classical period. The libretto, by Boris Kochno, is based on Alexander Pushkin's ''The Little House in Kolomna''. Mavra is about ...
'' (1921–22) already displayed most of the traits associated with
this phase of his career .
History
According to Stravinsky, he composed the Octet fairly rapidly in 1922. After completing the first
movement, he composed the
waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
that would become the fourth variation of the middle movement. Only after composing this waltz did the idea come to him that it might be a good
subject for a variation movement. The seventh variation, a
fugato
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...
, especially pleased Stravinsky, and the following third movement grew out of this final variation (Stravinsky and Craft 1963, 71). One biographer concludes that Stravinsky began composing the Octet after returning from Germany to
Biarritz late in the autumn of 1922, and completed the score on 20 May 1923.
However, the sketch materials reveal a more complex chronology. Twelve measures of what would become the waltz variation were composed in 1919, and the fugato variation was the first complete section to be composed, in January 1921. There is an early five-page
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of uncertain date for the beginning of the Allegro section in the first movement, at that time planned for
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
and
wind orchestra
A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...
. The main segments of the first movement were drafted in sketches dated between 12 July and 8 August, and the
full score
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, Ara ...
of the movement was completed on 16 August 1922. Two days later, Stravinsky began work on the second movement by adding the previously composed fugato, and then the waltz fragment, slightly expanded. The waltz coincidentally contains the same
intervals
Interval may refer to:
Mathematics and physics
* Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers
** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to arbitrary partially ordered sets
* A statistical level of measurement
* Interval e ...
as the opening of the fugato, and on 23 August 1922, he created the
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
and titled the movement "Thème avec variations monométriques". Variation D was begun next, but work was interrupted and Stravinsky finished it only on 18 November, followed by the "ribbons of
scales
Scale or scales may refer to:
Mathematics
* Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points
* Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original
* Scale factor, a number w ...
" variation A on 1 December, variation B on 6 December, and variation C on 9 December. The Finale was completed in Paris on 20 May 1923. The score was revised by the composer in 1952.
![Scène de l'opéra Garnier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Sc%C3%A8ne_de_l%27op%C3%A9ra_Garnier.jpg)
The published score does not carry a dedication, though Stravinsky said it was dedicated to
Vera de Bosset
Vera de Bosset Stravinsky (January 7, 1889 – September 17, 1982) was an American dancer and artist. She is better known as the second wife of composer Igor Stravinsky, who married her in 1940.
Life
Vera de Bosset was born Vera Bosse, the d ...
.
Stravinsky himself conducted the premiere of the Octet on one of
Serge Koussevitzky's concerts at the Paris Opera House on 18 October 1923. This was the first time he had conducted a premiere of a new piece, though not the first time he had conducted his music in public. The cavernous space cannot have been ideal for presenting such a chamber-music work, but Stravinsky later expressed satisfaction with the balance of the sound at that performance.
The very first recording that Stravinsky made was of the Octet: a private recording, probably made for his own study purposes, which is now lost.
Form
The Octet is in three movements:
The thematic and rhythmic materials of the three movements are interrelated, and the second movement connects to the third without a break.
First movement
The opening Sinfonia is a comparatively rare example (despite his label of "neoclassic composer") of Stravinsky's use of
sonata form
Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...
. His employment of this form, along with the other style elements consciously borrowed from the past, is not out of a reverent desire to perpetuate them, but rather constitutes a defiant and satirical act of mockery. The opening Lento section functions like a classical introduction, presenting the background tonal structure that will also govern the main Allegro section.
:
In the Allegro, Stravinsky exploits the apparent contradiction of two formal balances: one created through the parallel restatement of themes, the other through the symmetrical arrangement of themes and events on different structural layers of the composition.
Second movement
:
\relative c
In 1922, when Stravinsky was composing the second, theme-and-variations movement, he confided in a letter to
Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor.
Biography
Ansermet ...
that
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
was for him what
Ingres was to
Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
. The hybrid of rondo and variation form resembles the slow movement of Mozart's
E major Piano Concerto, K. 482, to which it has been compared. Variations 1, 3, and 6 are practically identical (all are labeled "variation A" in the score), and serve as introductions to the following variations 2, 4, and 7. Stravinsky referred to this recurring introduction as the "ribbons of scales" variation. The second, fourth, fifth, and seventh variations assume the characters of a
march
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...
, a
waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
, a
can-can, and a solemn fugue, respectively. The fugato is almost uniformly written in
time. This seventh, final variation is particularly surprising. The theme here is scarcely recognizable, and does not seem promising as the
subject for a fugue; the sound character of the variation, with its emphasis on slow-moving harmonic masses, is unearthly, and its plan is unconventional, with the subject occurring only four times.
Third movement
:
\relative c''
The finale's material is based on a rhythm identified by Stravinsky in earlier works (such as ''
The Firebird
''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...
'' and ''
The Rite of Spring
, image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg
, image_size = 350px
, caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of '
, composer = Igor Stravinsky
, based_on ...
'') with the Russian circle-dance called a ''
khorovod
The khorovod or horovod ( rus, хорово́д, p=xərɐˈvot, uk, хоровод, translit=khorovod or uk, коло, translit=kolo, label=none, be, карагод , bg, хоро, pl, korowód) is an East Slavs, East Slavic and pagan art ...
''. This repeating, three-note syncopated rhythm with proportions 3:3:2 ( ) is especially evident in the accompanying chords at the end, but all the preceding material in the movement is built on it or contains it. The overall formal design may be represented as A–B–A′–C–A″–D–D′, where the refrain material in the A sections occurs one time fewer in each successive repetition: three times, then two times, and finally just once. In this process, the ''khorovod''-like element becomes progressively less evident in the refrain, whereas in the intervening couplets it increases in clarity, from a disguised augmentation in the solo trumpet in section B, to a flute solo built on the original rhythmic shape in C, to the chordal accompaniment in D. The conception of a round dance is transformed here into an instrumental
rondo
The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period.
Etymology
The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round".
Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...
, with a main theme resembling a baroque fugue subject.
Reception
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...
witnessed the world premiere in Paris, and reported the general dismay at the abrupt, inexplicable turn away from Stravinsky's well-established neo-
primitivist
Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...
Russian style, to what appeared to everyone as "a mess of 18th-century mannerisms". The press, too, was unanimous in condemning what seemed like a bad joke. From a perspective of several decades later, of course, it had become clear that Stravinsky was embarking on a new and important stylistic phase that was destined to influence composers everywhere by bringing out a latent
objectivist tendency in the music of the period, by openly reverting to the ideals, forms, and textures of the pre-
Romantic era.
Not all of the early reviewers took a negative view, however. When the Octet was performed at the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...
in 1924, by instrumentalists from Frankfurt conducted by
Hermann Scherchen, an anonymous reviewer in the ''
Times
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems.
Time or times may also refer to:
Temporal measurement
* Time in physics, defined by its measurement
* Time standard, civil time speci ...
'' declared that, "without claiming for it, after the manner of the composer's more violent admirers, that it is a seventh
Brandenburg Concerto
The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, MacDonogh, Giles. ''Frederick the Great: A Life in Dee ...
", it displayed "a complete mastery of the medium", as well as a sure sense of form and "an ingenuity in counterpoint" with its own laws. Though finding moments of unaccustomed discords preventing acceptance of the music as "beautiful", this critic concluded that "there is so much to admire in the work that it cannot be dismissed as a piece of buffoonery".
References
Sources
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Further reading
* Aguilar, Victor Reyes. 2006. "Igor Stravinsky's "Octet for Wind Instruments" (1923): An Analysis and Discussion of Conducting Performance Practices". DMA diss. Los Angeles: UCLA.
* Cross, Jonathan (ed.). 2003. ''The Cambridge Companion to Stravinsky''. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. .
* Hyde, Martha Maclean. 1996. "Neoclassic and Anachronistic Impulses in Twentieth-Century Music". ''
Music Theory Spectrum
''Music Theory Spectrum'' () is a peer-reviewed, academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It is the official journal of the Society for Music Theory, and is published by Oxford University Press. The journal was first published ...
'' 18, no. 2 (Fall): 200–235.
* Hyde, Martha M. 2003. "Stravinsky's Neoclassicism". In ''The Cambridge Companion to Stravinsky'', edited by Jonathan Cross, 98–136. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. .
* Kielian-Gilbert, Marianne Catherine. 1981. "Pitch-class Function, Centricity, and Symmetry as Transposition Relations in Two Works of Stravinsky". PhD diss. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
* Lubaroff, Scott. 2004. ''An Examination of the Neo-classical Wind Works of Igor Stravinsky: The Octet for Winds and Concerto for Piano and Winds''. Studies in the History and Interpretation of Music 102. Lewiston, New York: E. Mellen Press. .
* Stravinsky, Igor. 1924. "Some Ideas about My Octuor", translated from the French. ''The Arts'' 6, no. 1 (January): 4–6. Reprinted in Eric Walter White, ''Stravinsky: The Composer and His Works'', second edition, 574–577. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1979. (pbk).
* Van den Toorn, Pieter C. 1983. ''The Music of Igor Stravinsky''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. .
* Wood, James R. 2007. "A Historical and Analytical Examination of the Stravinsky ''Octet for Wind Instruments'', with a Guide to Performance Preparation of the Two Trumpet Parts". DMA diss. Denton: University of North Texas.
External links
Stravinsky, Igor: Octet for Wind Instruments (1922–23, rev. 1952), programme note by
Joseph Horowitz
Joseph Horowitz (born 1948 in New York City) is an American cultural historian whose seven books mainly deal with the institutional history of classical music in the United States. As a producer of concerts, he has played a pioneering role in ...
at the publisher's (
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 ...
) website.
{{Authority control
Compositions by Igor Stravinsky
1923 compositions
Compositions for octet
Compositions for flute
Compositions for clarinet
Compositions for bassoon
Compositions for trumpet
Compositions for trombone
Neoclassicism (music)
Music dedicated to family or friends