Igor Stravinsky - Octet for Wind Instruments [With score]

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• published: 01 Apr 2017
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Composer: Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (17 June 1882 -- 6 April 1971) Performers: The Columbia Chamber Ensemble Conductor: Igor Stravinsky Octet, for wind instruments, written in 1923 00:00 - I. Sinfonia 04:00 - II. Tema con Variazioni 11:14 - III. Finale Stravinsky's neo-Classical works in part reacted against what the composer perceived as ultra-romantic excesses in the music of German symphonic composers. However, these works must also be seen as a rejection of Stravinsky's own earlier stylistic thinking. The Octet was the first masterpiece in the composer's new style. Scored for flute, clarinet, two bassoons, two trumpets in A and C, and tenor and bass trombones, the Octet reflected Stravinsky's general reduction in instrumental forces during and after the First World War. Although the war and its dismal aftermath necessitated economical scoring, these events do not explain the composer's intriguing choice of instruments -- he could have written for eight strings. It seems that Stravinsky was striving for an extreme (and un-Romantic) clarity of timbre and texture. As he explained in his 1924 article, "Some Ideas About my Octour [Octet]": "Wind instruments seem to me to be more apt to render a certain rigidity of the form I had in mind than other instruments -- the stringed instruments, for example, which are less cold and more vague." Stravinsky further outlined his neo-Classical credo by stressing that the Octet "is not an 'emotive' work, but a musical composition based on elements which are sufficient in themselves." Accordingly, he chose classical forms commonly associated with absolute music: sonata form for the first movement, theme and variations (incorporating a fugue) for the second, and a rondo finale. Stravinsky's application of sonata form in the first movement mostly involves surface features. A slow introduction gives way to a fanfare-like main theme, which in turn is followed by a development section featuring incessant running notes and fragments of the fanfare. The main theme then returns in full, but is performed only once, and the movement closes abruptly. A theme and five variations make up the second movement. The theme is octatonic, and does not point to any tonal center, although the harmonies under the theme strongly suggest D major. The first variation makes use of the first few notes of the Dies irae chant, immersed in flurries of running notes, and returns before the third and fifth variations. The second variation is march-like in character, the third a waltz, the fourth a can-can, and the last a fugue. Stravinsky closes the Octet with a true rondo, which opens with a constant pulsing accompaniment from one of the bassoons while the other plays the main theme. The ensuing episode opens with a brass outburst and trumpet melody, which eventually dissolves into a reappearance of the main theme. The second episode features the flute, while the final appearance of the main theme, re-orchestrated and rhythmically altered, closes the movement. The work was dedicated secretly to Vera Soudeikine (born de Bosset), whom Stravinsky had met in 1920, and with whom he had fallen in love and eventually married. Stravinsky conducted the first performance of the piece on October 18, 1923, the first time the composer had introduced one of his own works. [allmusic.com]