''Scherzo fantastique'', op. 3, composed in 1908, is the second purely orchestral work 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 ...

(preceded by the Symphony in E-flat op.1). Despite the composer's later description of the work as "a piece of 'pure', symphonic music", the work was inspired by Maurice Maeterlinck's 1901 essay "La Vie des Abeilles" (The Life of Bees), as is made clear in a letter of 18 June 1907 from the composer to his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov. Richard Taruskin, 'Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions', Vol.1, p.7. Ten years later, Léo Staats adapted it as a ballet for the Opéra Garnier, with the title ''Les Abeilles'', which was objected to by Maeterlinck.

History

In July 1907, Stravinsky wrote to

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

that he planned a "fantastic scherzo", to be called ''Bees''. He started work on it in the same month and completed it on 30 March 1908. Rimsky-Korsakov saw the score and liked it, but he died in 1908 and never heard the work performed. Stravinsky dedicated the work to

Alexander Siloti Alexander Ilyich Siloti (also Ziloti, russian: Алекса́ндр Ильи́ч Зило́ти, ''Aleksandr Iljič Ziloti'', uk, Олександр Ілліч Зілоті; 9 October 1863 – 8 December 1945) was a Russian virtuoso pianist, ...

, who conducted the first performance on 6 February 1909 at the Siloti Concerts in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Stravinsky's '' Feu d'artifice'' (''Fireworks'') received its first performance at the same concert. Sergei Diaghilev was present and was impressed by this music, leading him to offer Stravinsky the first of his commissions for ballet music. The score was first published around 1909 by the Russian sheet music publisher P. Jurgenson. Stravinsky later claimed that he conceived the ''Scherzo Fantastique'' as abstract music. On 10 January 1917 it was performed as a

ballet blanc A ''ballet blanc'' (, "white ballet") is a scene in which the ballerina and the female ''corps de ballet'' all wear white dresses or tutus. Typical in the Romantic style of ballet from the nineteenth century, ''ballets blancs'' are usually populat ...

at the

Paris Opera House The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

, with choreography by Léo Staats to a scenario based on Maeterlink's essay "La Vie des Abeilles" (the life of hebees). Stravinsky had not authorised this performance, and Maeterlinck objected to it.

Instrumentation

''Scherzo fantastique'' is scored for

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

, 3

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 ...

s (2nd doubling

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, the second-highest member below the standard C flute after the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the ...

, 3rd doubling 2nd

), 2 oboes,

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

, 3

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 ...

s in A (3rd doubling clarinet in D),

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

in A, 2

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 ...

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is consi ...

, 4

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

s, 2 trumpets in A, contralto trumpet in F,

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

, 3

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

s and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. Stravinsky reduced the number of harps to 2 in 1930.

Musical style

Like other early works of Stravinsky, the ''Scherzo fantastique'' follows the 19th-century Russian taste for exoticism. It uses

octatonic An octatonic scale is any eight-Musical note, note musical scale. However, the term most often refers to the symmetric scale composed of alternating major second, whole and semitone, half steps, as shown at right. In classical theory (in contras ...

and

whole-tone In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more det ...

scales, augmented triads and diminished seventh chords, and more chromaticism than in the composer's earlier works. The rhythm still uses fixed time signatures, and phrases are predominantly four bars long. It avoids rubato, using perpetuum mobile to maintain forward momentum. Influences on the work acknowledged by Stravinsky were: Rimsky-Korsakov (" Flight of the Bumblebee"),

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

(via Tchaikovsky), Dukas ('' The Sorcerer's Apprentice''), Wagner and Debussy.

Form

The work comprises a single movement that plays for between 11m 40s and 16 minutes. A note on the flyleaf of the score, contemptuously dismissed by Stravinsky as a sales blurb, reads:

This piece is inspired by an episode in the life of the bees. The first section gives an impression of life and activity in the hive. The central section, a slow movement, depicts sunrise and the nuptial flight of the queen bee. The love flight with her chosen mate, and his death. The third section, a reprise of the first, shows the peaceful activity of the hive continuing. Thus the whole piece becomes for us human beings the fantastic picture of an eternal cycle.

Discography

* Stravinsky's 1 December 1962 recording with the CBC Symphony Orchestra is included in Sony Classical's 22-CD set of the composer's works. * Gerard Schwarz conducted the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in 1988 on

Delos Productions Delos Productions is an American record label. Long in Los Angeles but now headquartered in Sonoma, California, it specializes in classical music. The Delos label was founded in 1973 by Amelia S. Haygood (1919–2007), whose stewardship of the com ...

DE 3054 release of Petrouchka.

History

Instrumentation

Musical style

Form

Discography

References

Further reading