Chapter 65

Music in Russia During the Silver

Age: Igor Stravinsky

The Silver Age• The arts in Russia near the turn of 20th Century is

commonly called the “Silver Age:”

– it was a period of changing tastes – a guide to the future.

– characterized by: • the absorption of modern developments from Europe.• a reduction in the importance to traditional

thinking.

• Nationalistic element of earlier Russian composers stays enforced– but directed into archaic or primitive aspects of

Russian society.

The Life of Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)

• 1882 - born near St. Petersburg to the family of a musician.

• 1905 - begins private study with Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

• 1910 - international attention after the premiere in Paris of the ballet The Firebird.

• 1913 - the stormy premiere of the ballet The Rite of Spring places Stravinsky as a leader of musical modernism.

• 1914 - leaves Russia and resettles in Switzerland.

• 1920s - lives primarily in France and becomes a French citizen.

• 1939 - emigrates to the United States, settles in the Los Angeles

area.

• 1971 - dies in New York, buried in Venice, Italy.

Igor Stravinsky

Principal Compositions by Igor Stravinsky

• Ballets: 12 ballets including:– The Firebird– Petrushka– The Rite of Spring– Pulcinella

• Operas and theater pieces including:– The Nightingale– L’histoire du soldat– Oedipus Rex– The Rake’s Progress

• Orchestra: symphonies, tone poems, concertos

• Chorus: cantatas, Symphony of Psalms, religious music including a Mass

• Songs: include works accompanied by small chamber ensembles

• Piano: works include a Sonata and Serenade in A Major

• Chamber music: pieces that generally avoid traditional genres

Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe

• Sergei Diaghilev was an influential impresario who transforms taste in Russian music and art in forming the Ballets Russe (Russian Ballet).

• This group brings new works to audiences in Paris and other Western capitals.

• Leading composer in Diaghilev’s group was Igor Stravinsky, who wrote five ballet scores:– The Firebird (1910)– Petrushka (1911)– The Rite of Spring (1913)– Les Noces (1917)– Pulcinella (1920)

The Rite of Spring

• Stravinsky’s harmonies include polychords– dissonant chords made from juxtaposing two

familiar though unrelated harmonies.

• A work notable for its:– rhythm– use of Russian folk melodies– colorful orchestration– powerful expression of primitive humanity

• Rhythmic innovations include:– shifting meters– suppression of regular meter by irregular accents– rhythmic canons

Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, 1913, Procession of the Sage - The Sage -

Dance of the Earth

Through-composed form