Igor Stravinsky - Symphonie de Pslames
20th Century | Edition Peters(?) | PDF | 36 Pages | 5 MB
20th Century | Edition Peters(?) | PDF | 36 Pages | 5 MB
The Symphony of Psalms by Igor Stravinsky was written in 1930 and was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This piece is a three-movement work written for chorus and orchestra and was composed during Stravinsky's neoclassical period.
Orchestration
The work is scored for 5 flutes (5th doubling Piccolo), 4 oboes, English horn, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, piccolo trumpet, 4 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, 2 pianos, harp, cellos, contrabasses, and a four part chorus (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). For the upper two choral parts the composer specified children's voices if possible.
Notable missing instruments include: clarinet, violins, and violas.
General analysis
Like many of Stravinsky's other works, including Petrushka and Rite of Spring, the Symphony of Psalms is based on the octatonic scale, which alternates whole steps and half steps. Stravinsky also claimed that the root of the entire symphony is "the sequences of two minor thirds joined by a major third" (Stravinsky and Craft, 1968). Because of the religious nature of this work, each movement is devoted to one of the hortatory virtues. The first movement represents love, the second movement represents hope, and the third movement represents faith. Interestingly, this reverses St. Paul's hortatory virtues, which were in the order: faith, hope, love. This is thought to be because of the strong emphasis Stravinsky wanted to put on faith, since he had recently rejoined the Russian Orthodox Church.
Stravinsky portrays the religious nature of the text through his compositional techniques. He wrote substantial portions of the piece in fugal counterpoint, which was used widely in the church in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Stravinsky's chorus comprises men and children, which was the status quo for all church choirs throughout the Baroque period, since women weren't allowed to sing in church. He also uses the large chorus to create a ritual atmosphere like that of the Church. The most subtle of the techniques Stravinsky uses to portray the Church is the use of the church modes.
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