TREATMENT OF THE PIANO IN THE ORCHESTRAL A …

TREATMENT OF THE PIANO IN THE ORCHESTRAL

WORKS OF IGOR STRAVINSKY

by

JAMES F. RAUSCHER, B.M.E., M.M.

A DISSERTATION

IN

FINE ARTS

Submitte(d to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Approved

Accepted

December, 1991

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A project of this scope could not have been completed without the help

of many individuals. I would like to express my appreciation to all who were

involved in this paper from its conception to its completion. A special word of

appreciation is extended to the following.

I would like to thank Dr. William Westney, who, as my main advisor,

applied piano professor, mentor, and friend, has been an inspiration and

guiding force in my musical development for the past six years. Appreciation

is also expressed to the four other members of my committee for their

assistance and constructive criticisms.

Dr. Dale Roller, retired Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts at

Amarillo College, has been a constant source of encouragement and support in

urging me to complete my doctoral studies. Janice Gillham and Nancy

Klingslick of the Lynn Library/Learning Center at Amarillo College were

instrumental in helping to obtain needed database information as well as

musical scores and reference materials.

A special word of appreciation is expressed to Mr. Terry Moore,

Associate Professor of Modern Languages at Amarillo College, for his

painstaking translation into English of the German dissertation by Paul Terse,

Studien zur Verwendung des Konzertflugels im Opernorchester in der Zeit.

Appreciation is expressed to four music publishing companies for

graciously consenting to allow the quoting of musical excerpts from their

cop5n-ighted scores: CPP Belwin, Inc.; Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.; G. Schirmer,

Inc.; and European American Music Distributors Corporation, sole U.S. and

Canadian agent for Schott of London.

I give praise and thanks to the triime God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

All abilities and talents which I possess come from Him, and this document

was accomplished through the prayers of many people.

u

I express my appreciation and love to my parents, Francis and Shirley

Rauscher, who nurtured my love for music from an early age and encouraged

and supported me in every step of my career. The solid family life which they

provided me along with my sisters, Mary and Terri, was the foundation upon

which I have built my adult life. Finally, I want to thank my wife, Vanessa,

and my two children, John and Ann, whose constant support, faith, and love

during all of the difficulties experienced throughout the degree program have

made it possible for me to complete my studies; they are the three main

reasons for which I finished this project.

n i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT vi

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF FIGURES ix

PREFACE xii

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION 1 ^

Role of the Piano in the Modem Orchestra 2

Piano in the Orchestra Prior to Stravinsky's

Compositions 3 '

Orchestral Works with Piano 4 J

Limits of the Study 7

Methodology of the Study 8

II. THE EARLY WORKS: 1909-1920 11

L'Oiseau de Feu (Original 1910 version) 11

Petrouchka 12

Le Chant du Rossignol 24

Suite L'Oiseau de Feu 29

III. THE MIDDLE PERIOD WORKS: 1920-1955 37

Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra 38

Concerto for Piano and Winds 44

Oedipus Rex 59

Quatre Etudes pour Orchestre 63

Capriccio 67

Symphony of Psalms 70 ^

Persephone 75

Scherzo a la Russe (Symphonic Version) 80

Scenes de Ballet 82

IV

._!

Symphony in Three Movements 82

Greeting Prelude for Orchestra 92

IV. THE LATE WORKS: 1957-1966 94

Agon 95

Threni: Id Est Lamentationes Jeremiz Prophetse 98

Movements for Piano and Orchestra 102

A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer 106

The Flood 107

Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam 108

Canon for Concert Introduction or Encore I l l

Requiem Canticles 114

Stravinsky's Attitudes Regarding Non-traditional

Usage of Piano 116

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 119

Doublings with Other Instruments 119

Octave Usage 121

Pianistic Effects 122

Percussive Effects 123

Pedal Usage 124

Solo Passage-work 124

Conclusion 125

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 126

APPENDIX 130

ABSTRACT

Igor Stravinsky was one of the first composers to use the pianoforte as

an integral member of the symphonic orchestra. The inclusion of piano within

the orchestra spans nearly his entire creative output, from L'Oiseau de Feu of

1909 to Requiem Canticles of 1966, in a total of twenty-two separate works.

The ways in which Stravinsky treated the piano within the orchestra, and the

changes in this treatment which took place during his compositional career,

form the basis of this study.

Scores of each work were analyzed in terms of Stravinsky's treatment

of the piano within the orchestral texture, particularly in regard to the

following: doublings with other instrimients; octave usage; pianistic effects

such as glissandi, trills, arpeggiated figures, alternating hand passages, and

tremolos; percussive effects; use of pedals; solo passage work; proportion of

piano usage to entire work; and treatment of rhythm in piano usage. A table

showing the analysis of each work is given in the Appendix. The discussion

of individual works is divided into three chapters dealing with the early,

middle, and late compositional periods, respectively. Treatment of the piano

in each work is discussed, accompanied by pertinent examples from the score.

The last chapter of text contains a summary of the material presented

and states conclusions which have been drawn: Stravinsky's earliest uses of \^

the piano in the orchestra were primarily as a soloistic instrument or as a

doubling instrimaent within the context of a huge orchestra, in accordance with

his Russian compositional training. As he moved toward a thinner, more

contrapuntal style which relied on concertato principles, the role of the piano

increased in importance because its percussive and pol5rphonic qualities so

closely matched the aesthetic he was working to achieve. Finally, when he

turned to serialism in the 1950s, the piano's tone became primary in impor

tance as a distinct color in his textural and tonal spectrum, and its usage

primarily as a single line instrument reflected the more pointillistic approach

vi

to composition in the final works. Composers, conductors, and pianists in

particular will benefit from studying his unique treatment of the piano within

the orchestra.

Vll

LIST OF TABLES

1. Chronological Listing of the Orchestral Works of Igor Stravinsky Containing Piano 5

2. Chronological Listing of the Orchestral Works of

Igor Stravinsky Not Containing Piano 6

3. L'Oiseau de Feu (Original 1910 version) 133

4. Petrouchka 134

5. Le Chant du Rossignol 137

6. Suite L'Oiseau de Feu 139

7. Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra 141

8. Concerto for Piano and Winds 142

9. Oedipus Rex 145

10. Quatre Etudes pour Orchestre 147

11. Capriccio 149

12. Symphony of Psalms 152

13. Persephone 154

14. Scherzo a la Russe (Symphonic Version) 156

15. Scenes de Ballet 157

16. Symphony in Three Movements 158

17. Greeting Prelude for Orchestra 160

18. Agon 161

19. Threni: Id Est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae 162

20. Movements for Piano and Orchestra 163

21. A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer 164

22. The Flood 165

23. Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam 166

24. Canon for Concert Introduction or Encore 167

25. Requiem Canticles 168

V l l l

LIST OF FIGURES

1. Petrouchka^ measures 26-31 14

2. Petrouchka^ measures 226-232 15

3. Petrouchka, measures 305-311 16






9. Le Chant du Rossignol, measures 21-32 26



12. Suite de L'Oiseau de Feu, measures 21-23 30






18. "Marche," from Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra, measures 1-4 39

19. "Marche," from Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra, measures 26-29 40

20. "Galop," from Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra, measures 1-5 41

21. "Galop," from Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra, measures 6-12 42

22. Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. I, measures 31-36 47


IX




27. Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. II, measures 408-418 54

28. Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. II, measures 419-428 55

29. Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. Ill, measures 480-489 57

30. Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. Ill,

measures 600-605 58

31. Oedipus Rex, measures 31-33 60

32. Oedipus Rex, measures 496-501 61

33. Oedipus Rex, Act II, measures 127-137 62

34. "Danse," from Quatre Etudes pour Orchestre, measures 1-6 64

35. "Excentrique," from Quatre Etudes pour Orchestre, measures 37-48 65

36. "Madrid," from Quatre Etudes pour Orchestre, measures 63-65 66

37. Capriccio, measures 79-84 68

38. Capriccio, measures 446-450 69

39. Symphony of Psalms, measures 1-5 71




43. Persephone, measures 1-3 76




47. Scherzo a la Russe, measures 41-49 81

48. Scenes de Ballet, measures 273-274 83

49. Symphony in Three Movements, measures 1-5 85







56. Greeting Prelude for Orchestra, measures 1-5 93

57. Agon, measures 190-203 96



60. Threni: Id Est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae, measures 33-36 100

61. Threni: Id Est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae,

measures 310-312 101

62. Movements for Piano and Orchestra, measures 1-12 103

63. Movements for Piano and Orchestra, measures 51-61 104

64. Movements for Piano and Orchestra, measures 86-88 105 65. A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer, measures

150-157 106

66. The Flood, measures 180-188 108

67. The Flood, measures 405-408 109

68. Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam, measures 5-10 110

69. Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam, measures 15-17 I l l

70. Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam, measures 130-134 . . . 112

71. Canon for Concert Introduction or Encore, measures 1-8 113

72. Requiem Canticles, measures 85-87 114

73. Requiem Canticles, measures 302-305 115

XI

PREFACE

A voluminous amount of material has been written about the music of

Igor Stravinsky. His works for solo piano and for solo piano with orchestra

have been considerably analyzed, researched, and discussed. Charles M,

Joseph in particular has written extensively about Stravinsky's solo piano

music and the importance of the piano in his compositional technique, in A

Study of Igor Stravinsky's Piano Compositions and Stravinsky and the Piano.

To date, however, little has been written regarding Stravinsky's use of the

piano as an orchestral instrument, which leaves a small gap in the total

understanding of Stravinsky's perceptions of the possibilities for piano usage.

It is hoped that this paper will, in some small way, begin to fill that gap.

Xll

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In considering the possibilities of the pianoforte as a musical instrument in connection of my Concerto, I was confronted with the fact that the treatment of the instrument by the composers of the nineteenth century made no appeal to me whatever in the sense which I desired to employ it. The composer has a definite obligation to his art which is destroyed if he is fettered by conventions. . . . If Schumann had held to the conventions of Scarlatti, there would have been no Schumann as we know him.

It is in orchestral employment that the piano appears to me as a wonderful percussion instrument. The piano has its own individuality and its own significance. Like all art, it is subject to a chronological development. In the past the piano has been treated at times as though it were a vocal instrument-that is it was made to sing, in fact it was cheated out of ever5d:hing but its own very evident and individual character as a percussion instrument.

This concept of the piano seemed to be developed in my mind for a long period of time like a great tree. During the past year, it bore fruit in my Concerto. I have endeavored to restore the piano to its rightful place as a percussion instrument.^

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (1882-1971) made these comments about

the piano and its possibilities as an orchestral instrument in the mid 1920s.

His position as a composer at the forefront of his generation had already been

established in the previous decade with the scores of L'Oiseau de feu,

Petrouchka, and Le Sacre du Printemps. Though hailed as a visionary, he

seemed to view himself more as a reactionary, pulling away from the excesses

and opulence of nineteenth century romanticism. As can be ascertained from

the above quotation, he admired the piano for its percussiveness and its

mechanical, impersonal quality, and he emphasized these traits in his writing

for the piano. He would continue to compose for the next forty years, and the

^J. F. Cooke, "Chronological Progress in Musical Art," The Etude 44 (August 1926): 559-560, as quoted in Charles M. Joseph, Stravinsky and the Piano (Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research Press, 1983), p. 158.

piano would often be an important component in expressing his most profound

thoughts.

Stravinsky was one of the first composers to use the pianoforte as an

integral member of the symphonic orchestra. The inclusion of piano within the

orchestra spans nearly his entire creative output, from the early L'Oiseau de

Feu of 1909 to Requiem Canticles of 1966, one of his last works. The ways in

which Stravinsky treated the piano within the orchestra and the changes in

this treatment which took place from the beginning to the end of his

compositional career form the basis of the present study.

Role of the Piano in the Modem Orchestra

Although many orchestral works which include piano have been written

in the twentieth century, a study of several standard orchestration books in

print reveals very little written on the role of the piano in the modern

orchestra. Gordon Jacob comments only that the harp, celesta, and piano

cannot be classified within strings, woodwinds, brass or percussion; the harp

is now a regular member of the orchestra, and the others are sometimes used

for special effects.^ H. Owen Reed's book dealing with scoring for percussion

makes no mention of the piano as being a member of the percussion section.^

Walter Piston's definitive book on orchestration does contain a short chapter

dealing with keyboard instruments, in which he mentions that use of the piano

as an orchestral instrument did not come to pass imtil the twentieth century.

He cites the chief use of the piano within the orchestra as that of doubling

other instruments, "by [which] an incisiveness, due to the percussive quality

^Gordon Jacob, Orchestral Technique, A Manual For Students, 3rd ed. (London: Oxford University Press, 1982), p. 3.

^H. Owen Reed and Joel T. Leach, Scoring For Percussion, and the Instruments of the Percussion Section (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969).

of the piano, is imparted to any instrimaent or group-strings, woodwind, brass,

or percussion, in all registers."*

Piano in the Orchestra Prior to Stravinskv's Compositions

After the practice of utilizing a keyboard instrument in the role of a

continuo within the orchestra died out in the early nineteenth century, the

piano was not generally considered to be a member of the ensemble; when it

appeared with orchestra, it was as a solo concerto instrument. Hector Berhoz

(1803-1869), one of the greatest orchestra tors of all time, was probably the first

composer to use the piano within the orchestra in a non-concerto work in his

oratorio, Lelio. In his Treatise on Instrumentation, he stated:

Thanks to the high degree of perfection attained by our skilled manufacturers, the pianoforte may now be considered from two viewpoints: either as an orchestral instrument or as a small v orchestra complete in itself. Only once has it been employed in the same fashion as the other instruments, so as to add its peculiar resources to the ensemble of the orchestra and to create effects which could not be attained in any other way [referring to his own work, Lelio].^

Berlioz credited Beethoven for pointing out ways in which the piano could be

used non-soloistically within the orchestra:

Certain passages in Beethoven's concertos ought to have drawn the composers' attention to this point long ago. They have surely admired the wonderfiil effect in Beethoven's Concerto in E flat, produced by the slow chord figurations of both hands in the high region of the piano, while the flute, clarinet, and bassoon play the melody over eighth-notes of the strings in contretemps.^

^Walter Piston, Orchestration (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1955), p. 341.

^Hector Berlioz, Treatise on Instrumentation, enlarged/revised Richard Strauss, trans. Theodore Front (New York: Edwin F. Kalmus Publishing, 1948), p. 153.

^Berlioz, p. 154.

In Russia, where Stravinsky grew up, the piano was infrequently used

within the orchestra. Stravinsky's only composition teacher, Nikolay Rimsky-

Korsakov, who was well-known for his brilliant orchestrations, commented in

his Principles of Orchestration:

The use of a piano in the orchestra (apart from pianoforte concertos) belongs almost entirely to the Russian school [Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Sadko and Moussorgsky's Boris Godounov are ^ particularly interesting in this respect-translator's note]. The object is two-fold: the quality of tone, either alone, or combined with that of the harp, is made to imitate a popular instrument, the guzli (as in Glinka), or a soft peal of bells. When the piano forms part of an orchestra, not as a solo instrument, an upright is preferable to a grand, but today the piano is gradually being superseded by the celesta, first used by Tschaikovsky.^

Stravinsky, then, had as models the music of his teacher and the music of

other prominent Russian composers to help mold his concepts of sound and

orchestration, and the use of piano as an orchestral instrument was a distinct

part of that overall concept.

Orchestral Works with Piano

Approximately one-half of Stravinsky's works for orchestra include piano

in the instrimientation. Some orchestral works also include parts for chorus

and/or soloists. The twenty-two works which will form the basis for this study

are presented in Table 1. This is followed by Table 2, listing the orchestral

works which do not include piano.

^Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Principles of Orchestration, trans. Edward Agate (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1964), pp. 30-31.

Table 1: Chronological Listing of the Orchestral Works of Igor Stravinsky Containing Piano

Work Date

L'Oiseau de Feu

Petrouchka

Le Rossignol /Le Chant du Rossignol

Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra

Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments

Oedipus Rex

Quatre Etudes for Orchestre

Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra

Symphony of Psalms

Persephone

Scherzo a la Russe

Scenes de Ballet

Symphony in Three Movements

Greeting Prelude for Orchestra

Agon

Threni: id est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae

Movements For Piano and Orchestra

A Sermon, a Narrative, and a Prayer

The Flood

Variations: Aldous Huxley In Memoriam

Canon for Concert Introduction or Encore

Requiem Canticles

1909-1910 (revised 1919)

1911 (revised 1947)

1914-1917

1921

1924 (revised 1950)

1927

1914-1929 (revised 1952)

1929 (revised 1949)

1930 (revised 1948)

1934 (revised 1949)

1945

1945

1945

1955

1957

1958

1959

1961

1962

1964

1965

1966

Table 2: Chronological Listing of the Orchestral Works of Igor Stravinsky Not Containing Piano

Work

Faun and Shepherdess, Op. 2

Symphony in E Flat, Op. 1

Scherzo Fantastique, Op. 3

Feu D'Artifice, Op. 4

Zvezdoliki (le Roi des Etoiles)

Le Sacre Du Printemps

Bayka (Renard)

Suite No. 1 For Small Orchestra

Symphonies of Wind Instruments

Pulcinella

Mavra

Apollo Musagetes

Le Baiser De La Fee

Concerto in D for Violin

Divertimento (Suite of Baiser)

Jeu de cartes

Concerto in E flat (Dumbarton)

Symphony in C

Danses concertantes

Circus Polka

Four Norwegian Moods

Ode

Babel

Concerto in D

Orpheus

Canticum Sacrum

Abraham and Isaac

Date

1906

1905-1907

1907-1908

1908

1911-1912

1911-1913 (revised 1947)

1915-1916

1917-1925

1920 (revised 1945-1947)

1919-1920

1921-1922

1927-1928 (revised 1947)

1928 (revised 1950)

1931

1934 (revised 1949)

1936

1937-1938

1939-1940

1941-1942

1942

1942

1943

1944

1946

1947

1955

1962-1963

Limits of the Studv

Although Stravinsky's early works were written for a standard sized or

enlarged orchestra of the time, he began in the 1920s to experiment with

different combinations and groups of instruments; this experimentation would

continue throughout the rest of his life. Thus, many of his orchestral works

contain non-standard instrumentation in one form or another. Because of this,

limitations were set to determine which works would be considered for the

purposes of this study. Chamber works, with one player to a part, were

excluded. These included: Three Japanese Lyrics of 1913, written for high

voice and chamber orchestra consisting of two flutes, two clarinets, piano, and

string quartet; Ebony Concerto of 1945, for solo clarinet and jazz ensemble; the

Septet of 1953, for clarinet in A, bassoon, horn, piano, violin, viola, and

violoncello; and Introitus: T. S. Eliot In Memoriam, for male chorus, harp,

piano, two tam-tams, two timpani, solo viola, and solo double bass.

Only original works have been included in the study; orchestrations of

other composers' music, such as Stravinsky's orchestration of Valse Brillante

in E Flat by Frederic Chopin for Diaghilev's ballet Les Sylphides in 1909, were

not considered. Tango, an orchestration of an earlier solo piano piece, is listed

by some sources as having piano in the orchestration, but this refers to a

version scored by Felix Guenther which was approved by Stravinsky;

Stravinsky's own orchestration of the work in 1953 did not include piano. Les

Noces was not included because its instrumentation of chorus, four pianos, and

percussion does not allow for interaction of the piano with any of the standard

sections of an orchestra.

The score for the opera The Rake's Progress lists "pianoforte" in the

instnmientation, but this part only appears as a solo accompaniment in

recitative passages, never in combination with the rest of the orchestra.

Moreover, the part is usually performed on harpsichord, as evidenced by this

reminiscence of Stravinsky's wife. Vera, about a performance of the opera in

Italy:

8

I thought, too, during the wait, about some of the echoes in the opera from Igor's so-called private life; of how the card game stemmed from his own fondness for cards, of how the harpsichord arpeggios imitate Igor's way of shuffling them, and of how the staccato of that instrument recalls his way of snapping them on a table.®

Also, Robert Craft; commented on rehearsing The Rake's Progress in

1968: "The harpsichord is distinguished by a no less painfiil pitch discrepancy

. . . and the instrument is amplified to something near the level of the Mormon

Tabernacle organ at triple /."^ Therefore, it seems clear that Stravinsky had

the harpsichord, and not the piano, in mind for this particular work.

Methodologv of the Studv

Scores of each of the twenty-two works cited in Table 1 have been

analyzed in terms of Stravinsky's treatment of the piano within the orchestral

texture. In particular, the following areas will be discussed.

Doublings with other instruments. Piston specifies doubling as the

foremost reason for using piano in the orchestra, due to its percussive quality,

which can then be imparted to any instrument in all registers. He further

states that the high register of the piano is especially effective in adding

brilliance to the upper woodwind sound. ° Stravinsky had very decided views

on the subject of doubling, which he expressed during his series of lectures at

Harvard in the late 1930s:

In every case the doubling of parts weighs down the music and v constitutes a peril that can be avoided only by proceeding with infinite tact. Such additions call for a subtle and delicate

/ • / V

®Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft;, Themes and Conclusions (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), p. 56.

^Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Retrospectives and Conclusions (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969), p. 299.

^°Piston, p. 341.

proportioning that itself presupposes the surest of tastes and a discriminating culture.

It is often believed that power can be increased indefinitely by multiplying the doubling of orchestral parts-a belief that is completely false: thickening is not strengthening. In a certain measure and up to a certain point, doubling may give the illusion of strength by effecting a reaction of a psychological order on the listener. The sensation of shock simulates the effect of power and helps to establish an illusion of balance between the sounding tonal masses. A good deal might be said in this connection about the balance of forces in the modem orchestra, a balance which is more easily explained by our aural habits than it is justified by exactness of proportions.^^

Octave usage. The appearance (or lack) of octaves will be discussed in

each of the works imder study. Stravinsky himself said that "octaves are

peculiarly pianistic. No other instrument produces them so well."^^

Pianistic effects. Effects such as glissandi, trills, arpeggiated figures,

alternating hand passages, and tremolo have been identified throughout the

twenty-two works.

Percussive effects. Passages in which the percussive nature of the piano

is exploited are identified and discussed.

Use of pedals. Stravinsky rarely indicated for the performer to use the

damper pedal, in either the solo works or the orchestral works. He once made

the comment that his childhood piano teacher's "only idiosyncrasy as a teacher

was in forbidding me all use of pedals; I had to sustain with my fingers, like

an organist-an omen, perhaps, as I have never been a pedal composer. " ^ He

did, however, reveal a marked preference for the una corda pedal, frequently

indicating that it should be used.

^^Igor Stravinsky, Poetics of Music, trans. Arthur Knodel and Ingolf Dahl (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1947), pp. 130-131.

^^Stravinsky, Themes and Conclusions, p. 99.

^^Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Memories and Commentaries (London: Faber and Faber, 1960), pp. 25-26.

10

Solo passage work. Passages in which the piano is treated as a solo

instrument wiU be discussed.

Proportion of piano usage to entire work. An analysis is given for each

work of the number of measures containing piano versus the number of

measures in the entire work.

Treatment of rhythm in piano usage. In the discussion of each work,

comments are made relative to the importance of the piano part in a rhythmic

context.

A complete and detailed analysis of each work studied is contained in

the appendix. A table has been prepared for each work, showing specific

doublings, octave usage, pianistic effects, percussive effects, pedal usage, and

solo passagework, and the measure number(s) in which they appear. Because

it would be impossible to discuss every instance of piano usage in any of the

works, certain examples will be presented which illustrate specific important

usages; for a complete analysis of piano usage, refer to the appendix. Major

trends within each of these categories will be discussed in Chapter V.

CHAPTER II

THE EARLY WORKS: 1909-1920

L'Oiseau de Feu (Original 1910 version)

Stravinsky's earliest works for orchestra, those written before 1909, did

not include piano in the orchestration, as can be seen in Table 2. His first

orchestral work to include piano was his transcription of Frederic Chopin's

Valse Brillante in E flat Major, Op. 18, for Sergei Diaghilev's ballet Les

Sylphides in 1909. It is impossible to say to what extent the piano was utilized

in this transcription for, according to Dominique-Rene de Lerma's guide to

publications of Stravinsky's music, this arrangement is unpublished and/or

lost. "* The first original orchestral composition to include piano was L'Oiseau

de Feu, written from 1909 to 1910 for Diaghilev and his Ballet Russe. The

score called for an extremely large orchestra of two piccolos, two flutes, two

oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons,

contrabassoon, four horns, three tnmipets, three trombones, tuba, three

onstage trumpets, two onstage tenor tubas, two onstage bass tubas, timpani,

triangle, tambourine, cymbals, bass dnmi, tam-tam, glockenspiel, xylophone,

celesta, three harps, piano, and the usual complement of strings. Stravinsky

once made the comment that "the orchestral body of The Firebird was

wastefiiUy large, but I was more proud of some of the orchestration than of the

music itself."^^

It is highly possible that Stravinsky used the piano in these works for

Diaghilev simply because it was available to him for the first time; another

^*Dominique-Rene de Lerma and Thomas J. Ahrens, Igor Fedorovitch Stravinsky, 1882-1971; A Practical Guide To Publications of His Music (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1974), p. 119.

^^Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Expositions and Developments (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962), p. 131.

11

12

supposition is that he was following the example of his composition teacher,

Rimsky-Korsakov, whose views on the subject have already been mentioned.

Whatever the reason, the piano played a very small and unimportant role in

Stravinsky's first uses of it, at least in the original score of L'Oiseau de Feu.

(This situation would change radically when Stravinsky, who had arranged a

suite for concert performance in 1911, reorchestrated the suite in 1919 for a

greatly reduced orchestra, which will be discussed in depth later in this

chapter.) Out of 1,294 total measures, the piano only appears in twenty-eight,

as can be seen in Table 3 of the Appendix; in general, it doubles the celesta

and/or harps, occasionally doubling the high winds or full orchestra. No solo

passages are given to the piano, and tfie entire part seems superfluous.

Instead, the celesta is given a far more important role, appearing frequently

in solo and accompanimental passages.

Petrouchka

Stravinsky was to give the piano a major role in his next orchestral

work, however. After the success of L'Oiseau de Feu, he had already been

commissioned by Diaghilev to compose the music for Le Sacre du Printemps.

Speaking of that time in his autobiography, he stated:

Before tackling the Sacre du Printemps, which would be a long and difficult task, I wanted to refresh myself by composing an orchestral piece in which the piano would play the most important par t -a sort ofKonzertstUck. In composing the music, I had in my mind a distinct picture of a puppet, suddenly endowed with life, exasperating the patience of the orchestra with diabolical cascades of arpeggios. The orchestra in turn retaliates with menacing trimipet blasts. The outcome is a terrific noise which reaches its climax and ends in the sorrowful and querulous collapse of the poor puppet. Having finished this bizarre piece, I struggled for hours, while walking beside the Lake of Geneva, to find a title which would express in a word the character of my music and, consequently, the personality of this creature.

One day I leapt for joy. I had indeed found my t i t le-Petroushka, the immortal and unhappy hero of every fair in all countries. Soon aft;erwards Diaghileff" came to visit . . . I played

13

him the piece I had just composed and which later became the second scene of Petroushka.^^

Diaghilev was extremely excited about Stravinsky's new piece and

convinced him to write a complete score for a new ballet utilizing its ideas.

The result, of course, was Petrouchka, which premiered in 1911 and was

another resoimding success for Stravinsky and Diaghilev's Ballet Russe.

The work is divided into four parts; each part, except the first, is

preceded by a cadence on the snare drum. The piano appears in 539 of a total

of 1267 measures, or nearly one-half of the score, and is most prominent in the

first part and the second part (which was the music first composed); Table 4

in the Appendix gives a complete listing of usage. In many instances, it

appears as a soloist, representing Petrouchka. At other times, it doubles

various other instnmients to create a sharper, brighter sound. Figure 1

illustrates a t5T)ical doubling with high winds: piccolo, flute, and oboe, from

near the beginning of the work. The piano doubled with these instruments

creates a more percussive attack to each note, defining and enunciating the

sound. The doubling is exact in all respects: pitch, articulation, and dynamics.

The piano spans three octaves; the piccolo and flute double the highest note,

the oboe doubles the middle octave, and no instrument doubles the lowest

octave. The particular timbre of each instrument's tone can be heard in this

type of doubling, yet they all blend together to create a new timbre. This

passage is also noteworthy for its rhythmic complexity of septuplets and

quintuplets in the main melodic line moving over a steady stream of quarter,

eighth, and sixteenth notes.

Figure 2 shows a doubling in the lower register, with bass clarinet,

bassoon, timpani, cello, and double bass (clarinets also double the right hand

notes in the middle register). This is not an exact doubling; note the four

^^Igor Stravinsky, An Autobiography (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1936), pp. 31-32.

14

^ • < ; • ^ I 3 1 . J 1

MIT.)

Figure 1: Petrouchka, measures 26-31. Copyright 1948 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

thirty-second notes which the piano plays in the measure before and the third

measure aft;er square 48 versus the triplet in all other parts-the piano plays

an extra B natural. Also, the left-hand part of the piano sustains while all

other instruments except bassoon I release at square 48. This passage recurs

several times in slightly varied form throughout the work and provides a good

example of Stravinsky's fondness for shifting meters.

15

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16

The beginning of the "Danse Russe" is illustrated in Figure 3. The piano

is doubled by nearly all of the winds, with trombones, harp, and strings

doubling certain beats for emphasis. This passages foreshadows Stravinsky's

growing interest in the wind soimd which would culminate in his Concerto for

Piano and Winds in 1924. The "whiteness" of the music has often been

DANSE RUSSE

CU>.IJI l«BV


17

commented upon; no doubt the passage was inspired by the white keys on the

piano and the ability of a pianist's hand to move rapidly up and down the keys

in blocked chords. The repeated chords in the left hand are not particularly

pianistic in nature and are quite difficult to execute because of the speed

required in getting the piano action to repeat. This type of writing reflects

Stravinsky's growing perception of the piano as a percussion instrimient. Note

that every note played by the other instruments is doubled by the piano, except

for the bottom note of the harp in the second, fourth, and sixth measures of the

example.

This passage appears again as a solo for piano in slightly altered form,

at rehearsal number 82. An unusual direction is given to the performer at this

point: / subito left ped. The left (una corda) pedal is typically used in very

soft passages where a more muffled sound is desired. Stravinsky, however,

was specific in stating his desire for it to be used in this and other forte

passages. The slight change in tone quality which results was more to his

liking. The fact that this was not a mere misprint is substantiated by a

comment from the diary of Robert Craft, Stravinsky's musical assistant and

protege for the last twenty-five years of his life:

At the rehearsals [in Caracas, from October 28 to November 3, 1962] I. S. tells the Petrushka pianist to open the lid all of the way, to use the left pedal only, to play forte and secco, and as I have heard these directions a hundred times, I should record them as definitive.^^

The second part of the score contains the original music which

Stravinsky first composed and played for Diaghilev, in which the piano is

treated throughout as a solo instrument, representing Petrouchka. The so-

called "Petrouchka chord," the juxtaposition of two major chords a tritone

apart, can be seen in Figure 4, at number 97. This example clearly shows that

^''Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Dialogues and a Diary (London: Faber and Faber, 1968), pp. 310-311.

18

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the sound of this chord was derived by means of the black and white keys of

the piano. Throughout this passage, the left hand remains on the black keys

and the right hand on the white keys. Note that the passage beginning at

number 98 is a single note run, alternating between the hands, and at square

99, becomes a rapid alternation between the hands on every other note.

19

Figure 5, taken from the third part, shows a very interesting type of

doubling with rhythmic variations. At square 150, three solo instruments:

flute, trumpet, and piano, play the same melodic phrase, but in differing time

values; the flute moves in eighth notes, the trumpet in sixteenth notes, and the

piano in sixteenth note triplets. These instruments represent the three main

protagonists of the ballet: the ballerina (flute), the blackamoor (trumpet), and

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20

Petrouchka (piano). In the third measure after square 150, the trumpet joins

the flute in playing the same rh5rthm, but the piano continues to play sixteenth

note triplets repeating at the octave, symbolizing the blackamoor's gaining of

the ballerina's affections and her rejection of Petrouchka.

The fourth and last part of the original 1911 score of Petrouchka

contains very little writing for the piano. Stravinsky corrected this deficiency

when he revised the score in 1947, giving the piano an equally prominent role

to the other three parts. The following examples are taken from the revised

score.

A passage of rapidly repeating fifths alternating between the hands

occurs several times in the fourth part, as shown in Figure 6. This use of

repeated notes, again not particularly pianistic, is another foreshadowing of

Stravinsky's evolving style which would become so prominent in the works of

the 1920s. The harp doubles the notes of the piano in this example, but one

at a time.

Figure 7 illustrates yet another foreshadowing of what would become a

part of the neoclassical style of the 1920s, the use of diatonic scalar passages.

The two hands move in parallel motion at the interval of a fifth. While no

instrument exactly doubles the notes of the piano, all notes played in the

passage are contained in the "white" key of C Major; there are no chromatic

alterations. This is an excellent example of the compositional language which

became known as "pandiatonicism," where the combination of diatonic parts

results in a type of static harmonic activity.

At number 228, Stravinsky gives the piano a measured tremolo of two

full chords alternating between the hands: a four note A major chord in second

inversion for the right hand and a five note G sharp half diminished seventh

chord in third inversion for the left hand. This continues for the next thirty-

seven measures. It is doubled, but never exactly, by horns, trumpet III,

strings, and harp on the second half of each beat, and by winds in measured

tremolo with variations. Short solo lines in many different instruments weave

21

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in and out through the texture. This passage is another example of how

Stravinsky was able to create a feeling of static or unchanging harmony in a

passage of music while sustaining interest.

Stravinsky not only doubled the piano with other instruments to achieve

a particular tone color, he sometimes experimented with differing articulations

22

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23

between instruments. Figure 8 provides an example: the piano and clarinet

double the same sextuplet run in the same octave, but the clarinet is clearly

instructed by the slur to play legato, whereas the piano's part is marked with

staccato and leggiero. The piano's staccatos enunciate each note of the clarinet,

and the overall effect is a unique one, for this occurs as the scuffle takes place

between the blackamoor and Petrouchka, resulting in the latter puppet's

"death." Petrouchka's flight from his rival is represented in the piano by

THE SCUFFLE Blackamoor and Petrousbka

^ S 2 ] kleoo ooMO J : too


24

alternating octave passages of varying length, ending with a glissando doubled

by strings that signifies his falling to the groimd. After his "death," the piano

is not heard again.

Although the work was conceived as a type of piano concerto, and the

piano is treated soloistically in several sections, its contributions to the score

in non-soloistic ways are extremely important. Stravinsky obviously saw great

possibilities in its use as a doubling instnmient and as a means of adding new

color to his orchestration. He would continue to turn to the piano in many of

his new works.

After Petrouchka, Stravinsky poured all of his energy into Le Sacre du

Printemps, whose premiere caused the famous riots in Paris in 1913. The

score does not include piano in the orchestration and, therefore, does not fall

under the scope of this study. It is possible that Stravinsky did not want to

create another Petrouchka, and so may have intentionally omitted the piano.

Perhaps the piano just did not fit into his tonal ideas for Le Sacre.

Le Chant du Rossis noi

In the fall of 1913, after the completion of Le Sacre du Printemps,

Stravinsky returned to a work first begun even before the composition of

L'Oiseau de Feu. He had composed the first act of an opera entitled Le

Rossignol in 1908, and now set about completing the work. His compositional

style had changed dramatically in the previous four years, however, and Acts

2 and 3 ended up being a radical departure from his original music. The

earlier Act 1 did not contain piano in the orchestration, but the new Acts 2 and

3 saw a change in orchestration which included the addition of piano, again

signaling Stravinsky's growing interest in the piano as an orchestral

instrument. Stravinsky was aware of the extreme difference between the old

and new music, and equally aware that he could never again write in the older

style; consequently, he was never really satisfied with the opera. Years later,

he would comment:

25

I can only attribute the musical style of the later acts-the augmented seconds, parallel intervals, pentatonic tunes, orchestral devices (tremolos, muted brass, cadenzas, etc.) to the great difficulty I experienced in returning to the opera at all after five years, and especially after Le Sacre du Printemps.^^

In 1917, he recast the music of Acts 2 and 3 as a symphonic poem and

later a ballet, entitled Le Chant du Rossignol. Always experimenting and

searching, Stravinsky began at this time to decrease the size of his orchestra

and to treat it in fimdamentally new and different ways. As he would later

state in his autobiography:

I ought to mention here a concert which had a certain importance for me in view of my new orchestral experiments. On December 6 a first performance of Le Chant du Rossignol was given at Geneva at one of the subscription concerts of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under the direction of Ernest Ansermet. I say new experiment because, in this symphonic poem, written for an orchestra of ordinary size, I treated the latter more as a chamber orchestra, and laid stress on the concertante side, not only of the various solo instruments, but also gave this role to whole groups of instruments. This orchestral treatment was well adapted to music full of cadenzas, vocalises, and melismata of all kinds, and in which tutti were the exception. I enjoyed the performance greatly, for the rendering was careful and highly finished.^^

The piano is quite prominent in Le Chant du Rossignol, appearing in

more than one-third of the work, although it is not used soloistically as often

as in Petrouchka. It is generally doubled by one or more other instruments in

a variety of different combinations, as is shown in Table 6 in the Appendix.

The most common instruments doubled with piano are the harp, the flute and

the piccolo; less frequently, the piano is doubled with brass or string

instruments. Glissandi are frequent, as are tremolos played with alternating

hands, both on single notes and on chords. Although there are some

^^Stravinsky, Memories and Commentaries, p. 131.

^^Stravinsky, An Autobiography, p. 84.

26

indications ofsforzando, the piano is not used very much for percussive effects.

Pedal markings are occasional but rare; several times Stravinsky again calls

for use of the una corda pedal in a forte passage with sforzando, as in Figure

9 below, just as he did in Petrouchka. Use of the damper, or right pedal, is

indicated by the sign for laisser vibrer (let vibrate), which is a slur extending

from a note head, and/or the indication of "Ped." Both of these methods for

using the damper pedal can also be seen in Figure 9.

«r B a H. 16312

Figure 9: Le Chant du Rossignol, measures 21-32. Cop)rright 1921 by Edition Russe de Musique, printed by arrangement, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

27

Figure 10 gives an example of a soloistic passage for piano, doubled by

first and second violins and viola. The pentatonic passage was again probably

inspired by the black keys of the piano and is very reminiscent of passages

from Petrouchka. A solo trumpet echoes the passage in canon one measure

later. Again the piano is instructed to use the una corda pedal along with e

sempre poco sf (always a little sforzando).

Several times the piano doubles short melismatic rims of the flute,

sjnnbolizing the living nightingale, usually in septuplets. With the appearance

rrkkl

Figure 10: Le Chant du Rossignol, measures 150-156. Copyright 1921 by Edition Russe de Musique, printed by arrangement, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

28

of the mechanical nightingale of the fairy tale, the piano assumes a more

static, mechanical role, playing a pianissimo tremolo in single notes a tenth

apart with alternating hands for eighteen measures.

The piano represents the retum of the living nightingale with flutters

and runs either in solo or doubling the flute or clarinet. It also has an

important solo of a different type closer to the end of the work, given in Figure

11, where a single c'" is repeated seventeen times while winds tremolo

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Figure 11: Le Chant du Rossignol, measures 460-465. Copyright 1921 by Edition Russe de Musique, printed by arrangement, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

29

underneath, very likely representing the crying out of the bird in finstration

and despair.

Suite L'Oiseau de Feu

Just as the piano became an important component in Stravinsky's

completion of Le Rossignol and Le Chant du Rossignol, so it would become

much more important in his resetting of the music from L'Oiseau de Feu in the

1919 orchestral suite. While the original ballet score utilized the piano in only

twenty-eight measures, the revised suite contained music for piano in 135 of

its 568 total measures. The celesta was much more prominent in the original

score; in the revised 1919 suite it does not even appear. In fact, Le Chant du

Rossignol would prove to be the last score in which Stravinsky used the celesta

until Movements for Piano and Orchestra in 1955. Much of what was

originally written for the celesta was given instead to the piano, indicating

both Stravinsky's desire to scale down the size of his orchestra and the growing

importance of the piano in his orchestral concept.

In the first section of the suite, the piano is generally given rapid, single

note runs, often divided between the hands. These are soloistic in nature and

can be readily discerned through the texture. Figures 12 and 13 on the

following pages give two such examples. The melisma shown in Figure 12 was

originally performed on the celesta; on piano the figure sounds brighter and

clearer. This run is not doubled by any other instrument and probably depicts

the fluttering wings of the firebird. Figure 13 shows an extremely active

passage for piano and winds, in which no parts are doubled, but piccolo, flute

and clarinet share the upward sweep with the piano. Again, the piano sound

clearly cuts through the texture and is soloistic in nature. The last measure

of the example (one measure after square 18) shows an upward sweep on white

keys in the right hand and on black keys in the left hand, showing again

Stravinsky's fascination with this combined sound and its derivation.

30

P.l.gr.

Cor. Ingl. (ob.ll.)

CornI

Figure 12: Suite de L'Oiseau de Feu, 1919 reorchestration, measures 21-23. Copyright by Edwin F. Kalmus, printed by CPP/Belwin, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

31

r.ri«|i|!^

Fl.„.

Figure 13: Suite de L'Oiseau de Feu, 1919 reorchestration, measures 74-78. Copyright by Edwin F. Kalmus, printed by CPP/Belwin, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

32

Figure 14, taken from the "Infemal Dance," offers an excellent example

of how Stravinsky's concepts in orchestration had changed in the ten years

between the original ballet score and the revision of 1919 from which the

example is taken. In the original, the solo line is given to the piccolo clarinet.

In the revised suite, however, the flute and piano are given the melodic line,

with violin I partially joining in the second measure and beyond. It is not an

exact doubUng, however, for every other note is displaced at the octave, with

the flute taking the higher octave and the piano the lower. The diverging

octaves give each instnunent's tone color more presence, while still

maintaining the effect of a doubled solo line. Piano notes contain laisser vibrer

and sf sempre indications. Xylophone, harp, and piccolo double the end of the

phrase for emphasis.

Whereas the beginning sections of the suite utilize the piano mainly in

single note runs divided between the hands, the "Infemal Dance" exploits

another facet of piano technique, that of octaves. In Figure 15, the piano first

has alternating octaves between the hands, with the inner note repeating, and

then both hands in parallel octaves. These octaves double with the flute and

oboe in the high register and the horns in the lower register, and are in canon

with trumpet and trombone.

Another pianistic device used with great effect in this suite is the

glissando, which appears no fewer than fourteen times in the work. Figure 16

shows the beginning of a section in which the piano executes six upward

glissandi on the white keys while the harp executes glissandi both up and

down on the "black key" notes, creating a dazzling whirl of soimd.

The piano is doubled less often with the string section. One excellent

example is contained in Figure 17, in which the right hand doubles the violin

I and II notes, and the left hand doubles the viola, cello, and double bass notes;

all strings play pizzicato with the exception of one chord.

The completion of the revised suite of L'Oiseau de Feu marked a turning

point in Stravinsky's compositional style. As he entered the 1920s, his

33

..Mi n.ricc

Figure 14: Sui^e cfe L'Oiseaw cfe Fei/, measures 230-233. Copyright by Edwin F. Kalmus, printed by CPP/Belwin, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

constant experimentation with the orchestra and concepts of sound would lead

him into what would become known as the "neoclassical" movement.

Violc

piu. t atmyrtf

Figure 15: Suite de L'Oiseau de Feu, measures 270-273. Copyright by Edwin F. Kalmus, printed by CPP/Belwin, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

n.ricc

Coral

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36

Okal


CHAPTER III

THE MIDDLE PERIOD WORKS: 1920-1955

As can be seen in the revised scores of Le Rossignol and Suite L'Oiseau

de Feu, Stravinsky was moving towards an aesthetic which called for a smaller

orchestra, treated more in a concertante manner. The piano was growing more

important as a part of this aesthetic, as evidenced by its increasing number of

appearances. The works of the 1920s would reveal his quest for new means

of expression through varied instrumental combinations.

A pivotal work of this time period is Les Noces (The Wedding), which

was begun shortly after the completion of Le Sacre du Printemps. Forty years

later, Stravinsky would recollect:

I began the composition of Les Noces in 1914 (a year before Renard) in Clarens. The music was composed in short score form by 1917, but it was not finished in full score until three months before the premiere, which was six years later. No work of mine has undergone so many instrumental metamorphoses. I completed the first tableau for an orchestra of the size of Le Sacre du printemps, and then decided to divide the various instrumental elements-strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, keyboard (cimbalom, harpsichord, piano)-into groups and to keep these groups separate on the stage. In still another version I sought to combine pianolas with bands of instruments that included saxhorns and fliigelhoms. Then one day in 1921, in Garches, where I was living as the guest of Gabrielle Chanel, I suddenly realized that an orchestra of four pianos would fulfill all my conditions. It would be at the same time perfectly homogeneous, perfectly impersonal, and perfectly mechanical.^°

This statement is important not only because it shows the evolution of

the orchestration for Les Noces, but also because it reflects Stravinsky's

perception of the piano as being impersonal and mechanical, which were

positive attributes of the instmment in his mind. Although the final

instrumentation of four soloists, chorus, four pianos and percussion does not

^°Stravinsky, Expositions and Developments, p. 118.

37

38

constitute an orchestral work for the purposes of this discussion, Les Noces

still must be mentioned in any study of Stravinsky's use and treatment of the

piano.

Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra

In the period from 1914 to 1917, Stravinsky had written two sets of

piano duets, entitled Three Easy Pieces and Five Easy Pieces, so called because

one part in each had been written with Diaghilev (who was not a pianist) in

mind as the performer. In the early 1920s, he decided to set these pieces for

orchestra in the form of two suites. He did not retain the piano in any of the

pieces in Suite No. 1 (which actually was finished after the second suite), but

chose to use piano in two of the four pieces in Suite No. 2, which were settings

of the Three Easy Pieces and the last piece from Five Easy Pieces.

The opening measures of "Marche," which begins Suite No. 2, are

contained in Figure 18 on the following page. Immediately one can see the

radical change that has taken place in Stravinsky's orchestration. Although

the four standard orchestral families are all present, their numbers have been

drastically reduced. The winds are represented by two flutes, one oboe, two B

flat clarinets, and two bassoons; there is no piccolo, English horn, bass clarinet,

or contrabassoon, among others. Four instruments form the brass component:

one each of horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba. The snare drum, bass drum

and piano constitute the percussion section, and finally, there is the usual

complement of strings. Not only is the scoring much thinner, but there are few

tutti passages; instead, smaller combinations of instruments banter back and

forth. In Figure 18, notice how the piano is doubled by first and second violins

in the lower octave, and both flutes in the higher octave. The phrase is also

doubled in the lower octave by a dovetaiUng of oboe and clarinet, giving the

oboe the more emphatic accented triplet which begins the phrase and the more

mellow sounding clarinet the legato downward sweep at the end of the phrase.

39 S U I T E N?2

pour petit orchestre / fur kleines Orcnoster / for small orchestra Droits d'cxccutlon reserves AnffBknmg^rteki vorMtalten Performing rights reserved

2 Flautl graiidl

Oboe

2 ClarinetU in Sit

2 Fagotti

Corno In Fa

Tromba in Do

Trombone

Tuba

Calsse clairc Gran Cas.sa

Piano

Violino I

Viollno n

Viola

Violoncello

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I. MARCHE

Igor Strawinsky (•1882)

Figure 18: "Marche," from Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra, measures 1-4. Copyright 1925 (renewed) by J. & W. Chester, Ltd. All rights for United States and Canada controlled by G. Schirmer, Inc.

Figure 19 illustrates number 4 of the "Marche" and is typical of the

writing throughout the movement. In fact, the broken accompanimental figure

in the piano part three measures after number 4 appears in nearly every

measure of the movement. These notes are doubled throughout by the tuba,

snare dnma, bass drum, violin II, viola, violoncello, and double bass, but the

40

C.el. Gr.C.

Piano i m

•if fflji f mj))

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Figure 19: "Marche," from Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra, measures 26-29. Copyright 1925 (renewed) by J. & W. Chester, Ltd. All rights for United States and Canada controlled by G. Schirmer, Inc.

resulting effect sounds very lightly and thinly orchestrated. Notice that this

figure is also present at number 4 itself, but relegated to the left hand, while

the right hand plays a two measure phrase doubled with flutes, oboe,

trombone, and violins. The notes in the right hand represent a composite of

the other doubling instruments, compressed to within an octave span. The

writing, especially the rapid diatonic triads, is reminiscent of Petrouchka.

41

Figure 20 shows the beginning of the fourth piece of the suite, "Galop."

Here, the piano is used in a fresh and novel way, stemming directly from

Stravinsky's perception of the piano as a percussion instrument. In the fourth

measure, the piano plays a cluster comprised of the bottom three keys on the

IV. G A L O P

Flauto piccolo

Flauto grande

Oboe

2 Clarinetti in La

2 Fagotti

Corno in Fb

in Do Tromba

in La

Ti-ombono

Tuba

ClaLsse claii-e

Piatte Grand Cassa

Piano

Violino I

\^olino II

Viola

Violoncello

Contrabasso

Figure 20: "Galop," from Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra, measures 1-5. Copyright 1925 (renewed) by J. & W. Chester, Ltd. All rights for United States and Canada controlled by G. Schirmer, Inc.

42

instrument, at the same time as a / / / bass drum crash. The combination of

the two instruments creates a sound which neither could produce alone. It is

a striking effect when heard in the context of the movement.

The last movement is scored much more thickly than the previous

movements, and the instruments are almost constantly performing tutti. A

typical page of the score is given as an example in Figure 21. All instruments

Figure 21: "Galop," from Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra, measures 6-12. Copyright 1925 (renewed) by J. & W. Chester, Ltd. All rights for United States and Canada controlled by G. Schirmer, Inc.

43

are in play. The right hand of the piano is doubled by tmmpet and trombone

at one octave lower. The flutes, oboe, clarinet, hom, violins, and viola play the

same rhythm as the right hand, but on different pitches, in what is a good

example of pandiatonicism. The violoncello doubles the left hand of the piano

exactly, while the double bass part plays the same pitches but singly, in an

ascending and descending pattern.

Throughout the work, the piano is used primarily in a percussive

capacity, providing the steady rhythmic drive which the music demands.

Although it frequently doubles the melodic line, it does not appear as a solo

instrument, but rather as an integral part of the orchestration.

However, even though Stravinsky had used the piano several times

already in his orchestrations, most notably in Le Chant du Rossignol and

Suite No. 2, he still seemed to perceive the piano primarily as a soloistic

instrument. The following comment from his autobiography, dealing with the

composition of L'Histoire du Soldat, is particularly revealing:

I knew only too well that so far as the music was concerned I should have to be content with a very restricted orchestra. The easiest solution would have been to use some such polyphonic instrument as the piano or harmonium. The latter was out of the question, chiefly because of its dynamic poverty, due to the complete absence of accents. Though the piano has polyphonic qualities infinitely more varied, and offers many particularly dynamic possibilities, I had to avoid it for two reasons: either my score would have seemed like an arrangement for the piano, and that would have given evidence of a certain lack of financial means, which would not have been at all in keeping with our intentions, or I should have had to use it as a solo instrument, exploiting every possibility of its technique. In other words, I should have had to be specially careful about the "pianism" of my score, and make it into a vehicle of virtuosity, in order to justify my choice of mediimi. So there was nothing for it but to decide on a group of instruments, a selection which would include the most representative types, in treble and bass, of the instrumental families . . . ^

21 Stravinsky, An Autobiography, pp. 71-72

44

This perception of the piano as a vehicle for virtuosity, coupled with his

conception of it as a percussion instnmient, would result in the Concerto for

Piano and Winds of 1924.

Concerto for Piano and Winds

As already mentioned, in the late teens and early 1920s Stravinsky was

experimenting with diverse and smaller combinations of instruments in his

compositions. Les Noces, written for vocal soloists, chorus, four pianos, and

percussion in its final form, and L'Histoire du Soldat, written for clarinet,

bassoon, comet, trombone, violin, double-bass, percussion, and narrator, are

good examples. Stravinsky was also becoming more interested in the sound

of wind instruments separate from the orchestral string section. In 1920, he

completed t he Symphonies of Wind Instruments, dedicated to Claude Debussy,

and in 1923 he composed the Octet for Wind Instruments for flute, clarinet, two

bassoons, trumpet in C, trumpet in A, trombone and bass trombone. The Octet

was soon followed by another composition utilizing winds, as remembered by

Stravinsky in his autobiography: "Having again used a wind ensemble for

chamber music in the Octuor, I later undertook the composition of my

Concerto, which, as regards color, is yet another combination-that of piano

with a wind orchestra reinforced by double basses and timbals."^^

Stravinsky began this new composition before determining the

instrumentation; it evolved only gradually into a concerto for piano and wind

instruments. Two separate statements by Stravinsky reveal the evolutionary

process that transpired:

. . . at the beginning of the composition I did not see that it would take the form of a concerto for piano and orchestra. Only gradually, while already composing, did I understand that the musical material could be used to most advantage in the piano, whose neat, clear sonority and pol5T)honic resources suited the

22 Stravinsky, An Autobiography, p. 104.

45

dryness and neatness which I was seeking in the structure of the music I had composed.^^

The short, crisp dance character of the Toccata [the first movement], engendered by the percussion of the piano, led to the idea that a wind ensemble would suit the piano better than any other combination. In contrast to the percussiveness of the piano, the winds prolong the piano's sounds as well as provide the human element of respiration.^*

In the Concerto, Stravinsky's conception of the piano as a percussion

instrument crystallized. The piano is treated throughout in a dry, detached

fashion, energizing and driving the rhythm in the first and third movements

by means of continuous streams of sixteenth notes in one or both hands.

Accents and sforzandi abound, and the writing is essentially non-lyric in style.

Passages of chordal octaves and octave runs alternate with more contrapuntal

sections of two or three voices. In general, the piano writing calls to mind the

continuo of the eighteenth century orchestra. Heinrich Strobel, in discussing

this work, commented:

The word *suivi' in the original, indicating the solo piano's dominating role, is not to be understood, however, in the sense of the romantic virtuoso concerto with effective sound passages, but rather in that of a fluid, motor-like concertato style as found in the concerti of Bach and Vivaldi.^^

The work begins with a slow introduction for winds, in dotted rhythms,

reminiscent of the French Overture style of the Baroque period. Years later,

Stravinsky would comment about his intentional use of this stylistic

convention:

Dotted rhythms are characteristic eighteenth-century rhythms. My uses of them in . . . works of that period, such as the

^^era Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Stravinsky in Pictures and Documents (New York: Faber and Faber, 1978), p. 197.

^*Vera Stravinsky, Pictures and Documents, p. 252.

^^Heinrich Strobel, Stravinsky: Classic Humanist, trans. Hans Rosenwald (New York: Merlin Press, 1955), p. 105.

46

introduction to my piano Concerto, are conscious stylistic references. I attempted to build a new music on eighteenth-century classicism, using the constmctive principles of that classicism (which I cannot define here) and even evoking it stylistically by such means as dotted rhythms.^^

Stravinsky's compositions of this time, in which he used the principles and

evoked the styles of eighteenth century classicism, are now commonly referred

to as the "neoclassical" works (although perhaps "neobaroque" is more

appropriate).

The piano enters for the first time at a sudden change in tempo to

"Allegro," which is shown in Figure 22 on the following page. The writing is

angular and percussive, with both hands playing in octaves; the right hand

part also contains inner notes. Every note played by the orchestra is contained

in the piano part; all instruments are present, but the writing is fragmented

so that each instrument plays only a few notes. Despite the lightness of the

scoring, however, the overall effect is still that of an orchestral tutti, such as

one might expect in a concerto from the Classical period, but with a much

clearer, cleaner texture.

As mentioned above, the chordal octave passages for piano alternate

with more thinly scored contrapuntal passages such as the one contained in

Figure 23, shown on page 48. At number 8, the solo piano appears with oboe

and English hom in a passage similar to a baroque trio sonata, with each

instrument playing a distinctly individual line. The piano part itself is in

three-voice counterpoint. In the fourth measure after number 8, two horns

enter, doubling the left hand octaves, building the passage toward the cUmax

of the first section. The section which begins in the sixth measure after

number 8 again shows the use of fragmented doubling to achieve the effect of

a tutti without overthickening the texture. The flute and clarinet partially

^^Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Conversations with Igor Stravinsky (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980), p. 18.

47

A - U e p r o Js 104

Pier.

Fi. t.2

Ok. 1.2

C.I.

U . U l . 2 |

I

Piaio

1.2

Car.

3.4

1.2

Tr-kr

3.4

Tr-ii

2.3

Taka

Tinp.

C-B.

B.ftH.i87ee

Figure 22: Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. I, measures 31-36. Cop)nnght assigned 1947 to Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

toeo,/^p f^c<>*/^P

fc ?£, ;?? EW" PI. 1.2

CI. It 1.2 [

F»».l

C-hg

Tr-kkt.2

Tr.K t

Figure 23: Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. I, measures 50-57. Copyright assigned 1947 to Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

49

double the highest notes of the piano, while the bassoon, contrabassoon, tuba,

timpani, and contrabass help to sustain the left hand octave. Three homs play

a variant of the piano's sixteenth-note figure, augmented in duration to eighth

notes.

In addition to the thickly scored octave passages and the more thinly

scored contrapimtal passages already mentioned, a third type of writing for the

piano which occurs frequently is that of altemating the hands back and forth,

on either chords, octaves, or single notes, so that the hands do not strike

together throughout the passage. An example is given in Figure 24, which

occurs near the end of the first movement. At the top of the page, five

measures before square 39, the right hand plays successive single or double

notes followed by one chord in the left hand. Certain notes in the right hand

are punctuated by oboes and clarinets. At square 39 all other instruments

drop out, and the piano begins a type of cadenza, which can be seen as another

stylistic reference to classical forms. The writing, however, is remarkably

strict and rigid, allowing for none of the freedom normally associated with a

cadenza. The hands are in strict and regular alternation throughout, with the

right hand playing chordal octaves and the left hand playing single notes, in

a constant stream of sixteenth notes. The time signature changes with each

measure, creating a feeling of shifting accents and instability. As the cadenza

builds to a climax, the horns and high winds reenter, again punctuating

certain chords; at this point, the notation changes from sixteenth notes to

eighth notes, and the section is marked Piu mosso. The ending of the cadenza

leads to a dramatic silence, seen in Figure 25. The movement closes with a

return to the slow theme of the introduction, this time accompanied by the

piano, as also seen in Figure 25. The piano provides a steady current of

sextuplets in the right hand and quarter note triplets in the left hand, which

continues the rhythmic instability set up in the cadenza and drives the

movement forcefiiUy to its close.

Ok. 1.2

CI .

ri u i .2 [

PiiDw

Ok. 1.2

C. I .

CI. U I. 2 I

Piaoa

riacn

PiaD«


51

Ok. t . 2

C.I.

CI. It 1. 2 (

Pitaa

Car. t [

[ f Maestoso, J: 48 (Largo del principo)

n. 1.2

Ub. 1.3

ri.iti.3[


52

The second movement of the work caused Stravinsky many problems

and much anguish, in both its composition and its performance. In one of his

many dialogues with Robert Craft, he mentioned:

As for the composer's memory, I will cite the story of Schoenberg, who, after having interrupted the composition of Moses und Aron for a long interval, complained of his inability to recall what he had already written. I experienced something similar to this while composing the second movement of my piano concerto. Some pages of the manuscript disappeared mysteriously one day, and when I tried to rewrite them I found I could remember almost nothing of what I had written. I do not know to what extent the published movement differs from the lost one, but I am sure the two are very unlike. . . . I have already told how at the first performance of this same piano concerto I was obliged to ask the conductor to remind me of the theme of the second movement. (A large psychological problem is involved with this movement, evidently.)^^

The final, published version of the second movement opens with a solo

passage for piano, shown in Figure 26, accompanied by an obligato for two

homs. The writing is more lyric, but its lyricism is countered by the thick, low

scoring of the left hand. The passage is restated by the fiill orchestra, with the

piano playing thick chords in a more accompanimental role.

The slow section is interrupted by a passage marked "Cadenza (poco

rubato)" which is given in Figure 27. This cadenza is much freer than its

counterpart in the first movement and begins with a doubling of low to high

brass, each instrument being given several notes, creating an extremely

effective buildup to the highest notes. The piano part is rhythmically very

complex. A similar cadenza occurs near the end of the movement; the end of

the cadenza is shown at the top of Figure 28.

One of the few indications for damper pedal occurs in the second

measure of this example. Stravinsky uses the French phrase laissez vibrer

along with its symbol. This cadenza leads back to the retum of the opening

27 Igor Stravinsky, Expositions and Developments, p. 46-47.

53

II

FLAUTO CR.

I

2 0BOI

II

CORKO INCL.

I

2 CLAR. IN LA

II

I

2 FACOTTI

II

PIANO

I . II

4 CORNI IN FA

111. IV

I . I !

4 TROMBB

III. IV

TROMBOKI 1.11

TROMBONB III TUBA

TIMPANI I

C-BASSI [

B.AH. 18766


Itmfrt

Figure 27: Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. II, measures 408-418. Copyright assigned 1947 to Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

55

ilnernle

Plino

I - tni'ttrM titter

,= Doppio valorc—tempo primo (J tM

PItno

:i> Doppio valore —tempo primo (J sSi)

Figure 28: Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. II, measures 419-428. Copyright 1947 assigned to Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

56

theme, this time given to both piano and solo oboe; the moment is very

poignant and beautiful, and the subtle differences between the oboe and piano

writing tend to bring out each instrument's individual tone color.

The third movement returns to the same fast tempo of the first

movement but is lighter in character than the preceding two. The piano part

is written in a "perpetual motion" style of nearly continuous sixteenth notes in

one or both hands; this predominates throughout the movement. Figure 29

gives a typical example: note the steady stream of sixteenth notes in the right

hand. The angularity of the right hand writing gives a suggestion of

S5mcopation and shifting accents. The left hand part displays a new concept

of octave writing which Stravinsky would later use frequently and with great

effect, especially in his Symphony in Three Movements: the notes are moving

upward by step, as in a scale, but instead of every note being doubled at the

octave, only every other note is doubled. This could not have been written

merely to simplify the performance of the passage, as there are many other

more difficult octave passages for the left hand in the work, but was quite

probably an experiment in thinning the texture.

Figure 30, which is from near the end of the work, shows an orchestral

tutti in which nearly all of the instruments double the right hand part. Every

note in the wind parts is separated by a breath mark (with the exception of

bassoon), which tends to make each note more distinct and imitate the decay

of the piano's tone. The left hand part again is written in partial octaves.

The slow introductory material of the first material reappears one final

time immediately before the end of the work. This is followed by a fast

passage in octaves for the piano, punctuated in the middle of each beat by full

orchestra, which brings the work to a close.

In the Concerto for Piano and Winds, Stravinsky's concepts of piano

utilization within the orchestra found fiiU fruition. Methods of use which can

already be seen in Petrouchka are here employed to their fiillest extent. The

percussive aspects of the piano which Stravinsky so admired had been solidly

57

PI. 1.2 I

Figure 29: Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. Ill, measures 480-489. Copyright assigned 1947 to Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

and definitively incorporated into the work. His treatment of piano in the

orchestra would not change significantly for the next twenty-five years, but

would rather continue along the same lines as in the Concerto.

58

FI. 1.2

Cl.lt I. 21

f la t . M« Mareafo

Figure 30: Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Mvt. Ill, measures 600-605. Copyright assigned 1947 to Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

http://Cl.lt

59

Oedipus Rex

The next large scale work in which Stravinsky would include piano was

the opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex, which premiered in 1927. This work was, in

fact, the first time since Le Sacre du Printemps of 1914 that Stravinsky

returned to the use of the standard symphony orchestra, but used it in new

ways.

Roman Vlad, in his book on Stravinsky, commented that, in contrast to

the works of the 1914 period, his new instrumental writing bore the mark of

his experience with individualized groups. ® In Oedipus Rex, the piano

appears in only 132 of 1268 total measures, exclusively in doublings with other

instruments. It is used again in a percussive context, propelling the rhythm

of the passages in which it appears and adding its particular color to the tonal

palette. The piano is most frequently doubled with the harp and/or timpani,

the low strings, or the high winds; it appears less frequently with brass and

high strings. Octaves appear frequently in one or both hands. There are few

pianistic effects: no glissandi and few arpeggiated figures. Pedal indications

are sparse, and the piano is rarely used in a soloistic context. For a complete

analysis of piano appearances and usage, refer to Table 9 in the appendix.

Figure 31 gives a page of the score from near the beginning of the work.

The piano is doubled in pitch and rhjrthm by timpani, harp, and low strings in

a percussive context, but the registers differ between the instruments. The

timpani, violoncelli, and double basses are confined to a span of a major third,

repeating each pitch three times. The harp covers the distance of an octave,

repeating the inner pitch three times in each group, and the piano spans the

distance of two octaves, playing single notes which do not repeat. This ostinato

passage recurs several more times in the work.

^^Roman Vlad, Stravinsky, trans. Robert Craft and Andre Marion (London: Oxford University Press, 1961), p. 102.

60

Cl.tlk

T.Ctlll

Figure 31: Oedipus Rex, measures 31-33. Copyright 1949 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

61

A similar passage in which piano is doubled by timpani is shown in

Figure 32. A study of the left hand part reveals that Stravinsky quite possibly

desired to have a pitch of Gj as the lowest note, but as the lowest note of all

pianos at that time was Ag, he had to settle for this pitch. (In a contemporary

performance of this work, the pianist should consider changing the pitch in

question to a Gj if an instnmient is available which is capable of producing

that pitch, such as a Bosendorfer Imperial Grand.)

Cir

T i . , .

ri im

t . l l

TU

T.Ctlll

C.I.

Figure 32: Oedipus Rex, measures 496-501. Copyright 1949 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

62

Figure 33 shows an example of a more soloistic use of piano in the score

of Oedipus Rex. Each hand plays a single note arpeggio; the figure is doubled

by the harp, which plays the same pitches but in a different manner. Each

instrument's tone color thus achieves greater individuality while retaining the

doubling called for in the passage. The writing is reminiscent of the second

movement of the Concerto for Piano and Winds; the arpeggio in Figure 33 is

similar in nature to the one already illustrated in Figure 27.

Figure 33: Oedipus Rex, Act II, measures 127-137. Copyright 1949 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

63

Quatre Etudes pour Orchestre

Stravinsky had traveled to Madrid in 1917, and the visit had made a

deep and vivid impression on his mind. In remembrance of his visit, he

composed a short piece for the pianola, a mechanical piano popular in Madrid

at the time. In his autobiography, he stated:

The whimsicalities of the imexpected melodies of the mechanical pianos and rattletrap orchestrinas of the Madrid streets and the little night taverns served as theme for this piece, which I wrote expressly for the pianola, and which was published as a roll by the London Aeolian Company. Subsequently, I orchestrated this piece, which was called Madrid, and formed part of my Quatre Etudes pour Orchestre, the others being the three pieces originally written as quartets in 1914. ^

Stravinsky completed this set of pieces in 1929. He included piano in

the first two pieces entitled "Danse" and "Excentrique," as well as in the last

piece, "Madrid." The piano is tacet in the third movement, "Cantique."

In "Danse," Stravinsky continued his use of piano in a rhythmic,

percussive context. The piano plays an ostinato pattern of three measures in

length, which continues unchanged through the entire piece. This pattern is

shown in Figure 34. Harp, timpani, and violoncelli double the pitches of the

piano in varied forms; collectively they form the ostinato.

The piano is used more soloistically in the second piece, "Cantique." A

solo glissando is called for on four separate occasions, doubled on the end notes

by hom. The texture is very thin, frequently with only one pitch sounding at

a time from the combined orchestra. There is a three-measure passage in

which the piano plays with the right hand on white keys in sixteenth notes

and the left hand on black keys in eighth notes, barkening back to Petrouchka.

Figure 35 shows an example of piano doubled with strings, with frequent

octave displacement. For instance, piano and violin I begin on the same pitch,

f Jj", but the violins move up to g" while the piano leaps nearly an octave down


64 QUATRE ETUDES POUR ORCHESTRE

I DANSE

Con moto J>r26

IGOR STRAVINSKY (1914-1929)

RviKd I9S2

Fl. Piccolo

2 Fl.^randi

Corno-ing

Violc

Violoncelli

C- bass

(«nipr* mf

Figure 34: "Danse," from Quatre Etudes Pour Orchestre, measures 1-6. Revised version copyright 1971 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers, Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

to g'; this occurs with each beat. Likewise, every other note of the left hand

is displaced an octave compared to the violoncelli and double basses. This

example also shows the thinness of texture typical of this movement.

"Madrid," the final movement which was originally set for pianola, is

more thickly scored than the other movements. The piano is given some

65

Figure 35: "Excentrique," from Quatre Etudes Pour Orchestre, measures 37-48. Revised version copyright 1971 by Boosey & Hawkes Music PubHshers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

soloistic passages, but is generally doubled with other instruments and is

treated as a member of the ensemble. It is prominent in another ostinato

passage near the beginning of the piece, doubled with timpani and low strings.

As the piece progresses, Stravinsky gives the piano more thickly scored chordal

66

passages, such as the one given in Figure 36. In general, the hands altemate

back and forth in widely spaced, rapidly moving chords. A final ostinato

pattern, with a thinner texture, brings the work to a close.

1-2

Cor. i^^N^^^

Figure 36: "Madrid," from Quatre Etudes Pour Orchestre, measures 63-65. Revised version copyright 1971 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

67

Capriccio

I worked at my Capriccio all summer and finished it at the end of September [1929]. I played it for the first time on December 6 . . . I had so often been asked in the course of the last few years to play my Concerto (this I had already done no fewer than forty times) that I thought that it was time to give the pubhc another work for piano and orchestra. That is why I wrote another concerto, which I called Capriccio, that name seeming to indicate best the character of the music. I had in mind the definition of a capriccio given by Praetorius, the celebrated musical authority of the eighteenth century. He regarded it as a synonym of the fantasia, which was a free form made up of fugato instrumental passages. This form enabled me to develop my music by the juxtaposition of episodes of various kinds which follow one another and by their very nature give the piece that aspect of caprice from which it takes its name.^°

The Capriccio is written for a standard size orchestra, but with one

unusual feature: the strings are divided into a concertino group of solo violin,

viola, violoncello, and contrabass, and a ripieno group, once again recalling

Baroque practice, this time in the conventions of a concerto grosso. Eric Walter

White, in his study dealing with Stravinsky, comments that "Throughout the

Capriccio, the writing for solo piano is more graceful and less percussive than

in the Piano Concerto." ^^ The piano is also used more as a vehicle for

virtuosity. Rapid runs, often chromatic in nature, arpeggiated figures, trills,

octave runs in one or both hands, and alternating hand passages predominate.

Table 11 in the Appendix gives a detailed analysis of piano usage. Stravinsky

cited the influence of the cimbalom, a Hungarian dulcimer which he had used

in composing the short piece entitled Ragtime, on the composition of the

Capriccio:

I continued to play the cimbalom every day in my Pleyel Studio in Paris between the wars, though I wrote no more music for it


^^Eric Walter White, Stravinsky: The Composer and His Works, 2nd ed. (London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1979), p. 358.

68

because of the difficulty of finding good players. Nevertheless, some of the piano writing in my Capriccio is cimbalomist in style, especially the cadenza in the second movement, which is a kind of Rvunanian restaurant music.^^

Figure 37, taken from the first movement, shows the type of writing

common to much of the work. Each hand performs runs or arpeggiated figures

PUBO

TiB.

Tlk.

Tt .

n»<«

Figure 37: Capriccio, measures 79-84. Revised version copyright 1952 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

^^Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Dialogues and a Diary (London: Faber and Faber, 1968), p. 54.

69

comprised of single notes, weaving together in a loose type of counterpoint.

The measure before nimiber 14 and the fourth measure after number 14 both

contain chromatic scales in the right hand. The left hand throughout plays an

arpeggiated figure. The solo piano is accompanied, but not doubled, by high

winds executing trills and rapidly repeating notes. The general effect is one

of playfulness and lightheartedness, coupled with a different kind of virtuosity.

One new technical device makes its appearance in the Capriccio: the

use of extremely rapid repeating notes, such as in the passage in Figure 38,

PUao

•Ul .

T k .

Tel.

m s

Figure 38: Capriccio, measures 446-450. Revised version copyright 1952 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

70

taken from the third movement. Although the piano had been given repeated

note passages as early as in Petrouchka (see Figures 5 and 6), these earher

appearances had been measured and not as fast. The repeated notes at square

84 in Figiu-e 38 are to be played as rapidly as possible and illustrate a way in

which to make the piano prolong its pitch, along with demonstrating great

virtuosity.

Symphony of Psalms

The Symphony of Psalms was composed in 1930, commissioned by Sergei

Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra to celebrate its fiftieth

anniversary. The work is written for chorus and orchestra, with several

unusual features in the orchestration. Stravinsky omitted the clarinet, violin,

and viola sections, instead writing two piano parts; this would be his only

orchestral work utilizing this combination of instruments.

The pianos are treated throughout in a percussive fashion similar to

other works already discussed, helping to sustain the rhythmic drive. At

times, the pianos double each other, and nearly all appearances are doubled

by one or more other instruments. Octaves occur frequently in one or both

parts; there are few glissandi or other pianistic effects. There are several

indications for use of the una corda pedal; the laissez vibrer symbol indicating

use of the damper pedal seldom appears. One or both pianos frequently

perform a soloistic fiinction in short passages.

Figure 39 contains the first page of the score of Symphony of Psalms.

The pianos appear in measures one and four in a chord which occurs several

more times throughout the movement. The pianos are doubled exactly by

winds, trombones, percussion, harp, and low strings. The spacing of the

opening chord is suggestive in its pianistic spread, as one of the largest chords

which could be played by one hand on the piano, and the mirror image of the

low and high chords corresponds to the mirror image of the left and right

hand. The other instruments double every note with none added.

SYMPHONY OF PSALMS 71

T e m p o Jroa

(Symphonie de Psaumes) I

i r t ^ ^ FLAl'TI 6RA.<«DI

FLAUTO GRANDE ( p t i PICCOLO)

CORNO INGLESE

CONTRA FAGOTTO

TROMBA PICCOLA RE

PlAROrORT! 1.2

ViniONTELLI

CONTRARASSI

IGOR STRAVINSKY 1830

Figure 39: Symphony of Psalms, measures 1-5. New revision copyright 1948 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

72

Figure 40 illustrates a highly inventive doubling between the two piano

parts. Piano II contains the same notes as the right hand part of Piano I, but

is marked Una corda (secco) whereas the notes of Piano I are not marked at

all, and would should be played more legato. This combination of sounds

results in a crisper, more pointed attack on each note.

A good example of incomplete doubling, which is similar in style to the

Concerto, is given in Figure 41. The sixteenth-note pattern played by

Piano II's right hand is doubled completely by two flutes in a higher octave,

and partially by a third flute and three bassoons, resulting in a thinner texture

than if each instrument played every note. This pattern is augmented to

eighth notes in the Piano I and harp parts. Notice that the last chord of the

example is another statement of the opening chord given in Figure 39.

The pianos are tacet in the second movement, but are extremely

prominent in the third movement, which is a setting of Psalm 150 from the

Bible. Referring to this movement, Stravinsky said that "the allegro in Psalm

150 was inspired by a vision of Elijah's chariot climbing the Heavens; never

caul, ttprtttivo

Piano 1

Pl&no t

Gil altri V-C.


73

Kl.ir

nkd

(kt»*)


74

before had I written anything quite so literal as the triplets for hom and piano

to suggest the horses and chariot."^^ The passage referred to is shown in

Figure 42, and the writing is indeed heroic and awe inspiring. Homs and

pianos double the line, but not quite exactly, with the combination of two

pianos covering a three octave span, and the homs in the middle octaver

Ctr.

Tr-k« •e

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33 Stravinsky, Dialogues and a Diary, p. 46.

75

Persephone

Stravinsky's next work to include piano was a musical melodrama

commissioned by Ida Rubenstein, based on a French setting of the Homeric

hymn to Demeter. Persephone was written in 1933 and 1934, but did not

receive its premiere imtil April 30, 1954, at the Paris Opera. It was not

received well and had relatively few performances. Stravinsky stated on the

occasion of its first performance:

I think I should tell the pubhc that I hate any orchestral effects as a means of embellishment; they should not expect to be enthralled by seductive sonorities . . . I rejected the futility of mere brio years ago . . . I have used a normal orchestra, a mixed choir and a children's choir. '

Piano is used in about one-fifth of the score. As with the other works

of this period, it is primarily used in a percussive fashion, doubling with one

or more other instnmients, sometimes is a soloistic manner. Octaves in one

or both hands are abundant. There are several passages written for

altemating hands, and several glissandi. Scales on white keys appear several

times. The una corda pedal is called for in several different ways: "una corda,"

"Ped. e Sord.," and "Ped. gauche."

The first page of the score is given in Figure 43. The piano executes a

tremolo altemating between the hands, with the lower note repeating; this

writing is very similar to passages discussed in the Capriccio (see Figure 38).

The piano is doubled at the beginning and at the change of pitch in measure

two by xylophone, harps, and strings.

Figure 44 shows a doubling with the foiu* homs and contrabass, which

is marked come prima and continues for several measures past the end of the

example. The homs double exactly the pitches and rhythm of the piano's right

hand part, while the contrabasses double the left hand part. These

instruments play in counterpoint with the winds, voices, and strings.

34 Vlad, Stravinsky, p. 113.

76

PERSEPHONE

Pocmo dc ANDRE GIDE

I PERSEPHONE RAVIE Mnslqac dc

IGOR STRAVINSKY 1>.14, H<^«iiet I t t n

M.M. j

CORNI I I Pa

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TROMBONE Btsso a ^

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PIANO

EUMOLPE

VIOLINl

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VIOLONCELLI

rOXTRABASSl

Figure 43: Persephone, measures 1-3. New revision copyright 1950 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

77

Fl.Pite.

Fl .Cr.

Cor.

Pltae


78

A more accompanimental use of piano is shown in Figure 45, from the

second movement. The "whiteness" of the music suggests another excellent

example of pandiatonicism. The right hand part of the piano contains

descending C major scales with an intriguing rhythmic effect: seven notes of

the scale are played before the octave which again starts the descent, moving

the beginning of each scale forward one sixteenth note; therefore, it takes

P o c o pill monno J : M r i S r »

T i . ,

Cr C

* ' f

Fiait

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79

seven beats for the beginning of the scale to fall on a beat once again. These

scales are doubled by two trombones altemating back and forth. The left hand

part contains octaves moving in quarter notes which are doubled by the

contrabassoon, bass trombone and tuba in altemation, and low strings.

A final example from the score of Persephone is shown in Figure 46,

taken from the beginning of the third movement. The piano is used in a

ni PERSEPHONE RENAISSANTE

I^ento J X to ?."•- —

TltUII

TltLtlClllI

c t i r a i u s i


80

thicker scoring for tutti orchestra. Sustained octaves in the upper middle

register altemate with quintuplet runs in the lower register. The octaves are

doubled exactiy by piccolo, flute, horns, piccolo trumpet, violins and violas, and

on the downbeat of each measure by the harps. The quintuplets in the piano

are doubled in pitch but not in rhythm by bassoons, timpani, and low strings:

each other instrument plays a triplet consisting of three of the five pitches

played by the piano in its quintuplet, while the harp plays a glissando

beginning on the piano's first and lowest pitch.

Scherzo a la Russe (Symphonic Version)

The Scherzo a la Russe was written in 1944, and according to

Stravinsky:

. . . was commissioned by Paul Whiteman for a special radio broadcast. I wrote it originally to exact specifications of his ensemble, then rewrote it for standard orchestra-which gave me some trouble, as the volume of mandolin and guitar in the Trio canon was so much lighter than that of harp and piano.^^

The piano is present in nearly the entire piece, appearing in 190 of 198

measures. Throughout much of the work, it remains in the low register,

doubled with bass driun, playing staccato notes on each beat in a steady pulse.

There are several glissandi doubled by xylophone, and two alternating hand

passages with repeated notes similar to those already seen in other works

discussed. Several scalar passages on white keys call to mind the Concerto and

Petrouchka. The piano is given one lyric passage, played in canon with the

harp, a portion of which is shown in Figure 47. The canon begins in the piano

in the second measure after rehearsal number 10, on the fourth beat, followed

one beat later by the harp. The piano is written with left and right hand

doubling each other two octaves apart, with harp playing in the octave

between, and the canon is exact throughout with no pitch changes.


81

Tvum

I SdeVtw

Trt.iei I

35«UTlB(

run«

IwT

3ael*Tla».

Figure 47: Scherzo a la Russe, measures 41-49. Copyright 1945 by Associated Music PubHshers, Inc., renewed 1972, assigned to Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

82

Scenes de Ballet

In the 1940s, Stravinsky was requested to compose many and diverse

conmoissions, several of which he accepted. One was from Paul Whiteman for

the Scherzo a la Russe just discussed. Another came from a director of popular

musicals in Philadelphia who asked Stravinsky to write a work for one of his

dance revues. Rather siuprisingly, Stravinsky accepted, and the result was

Scenes de Ballet. Regarding its premiere, he related:

After the first night of the Philadelphia preview run I received a telegram: YOUR MUSIC GREAT SUCCESS STOP COULD BE SENSATIONAL SUCCESS IF YOU WOULD AUTHORIZE ROBERT RUSSELL BENNETT RETOUCH ORCHESTRATION STOP BENNETT ORCHESTRATES EVEN THE WORKS OF COLE PORTER. I telegraphed back: SATISFIED WITH GREAT SUCCESS. Scenes de Ballet is a period piece, a portrait of Broadway in the last years of the War. . . ^

Although Stravinsky broke no new ground in this work, it is nonetheless

a delightfiil and exciting glimpse into his perceptions of contemporary

American popular music. The piano is utilized in the score in much the same

way as the previous works discussed. It frequently doubles the high winds or

the low strings. Some octaves and many arpeggiated rims are present. The

damper pedal is called for more often than usual, and the piano is given

several soloistic passages of a nature recalling the Concerto and other works

on the 1920's. In one passage, illustrated in Figure 48, the piano is given very

large chords, spaced in the same manner as the opening of Symphony of

Psalms (see Figure 39). In this representative passage, the piano sustains the

rhythmic drive of the work, while supporting the harmonic stmcture.

Symphony in Three Movements

According to Eric Walter White, in 1942 Stravinsky began to

contemplate writing another piano concerto, or else a concerto for orchestra


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Figure 48: Scenes de Ballet, measures 273-274. Copyright 1945 by Chappell & Co., Inc. Renewed 1973, assigned to Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

84

with a prominent part for piano, and wrote out sketches for the work. In 1945,

when he was invited by the New York Philharmonic Symphony Society to

provide them with a symphony, he decided to incorporate this material into the

first movement of the new symphony.^'' He also used pre-existing material

as the basis for the second movement:

Franz Werfe l . . . the distinguished poet and dramatist tried to encourage me to write music for his Song ofBernadette film. . . . I actually did compose music for the 'Apparition of the Virgin' scene and this music became the second movement of my Symphony in Three Movements.^^

The piano is utilized extensively in the first movement, because of the

origin of the music. It is silent in the second movement, in which the harp is

given the principal role. Stravinsky had this to say about the origins of the

music and the relationship between the piano and the harp:

The first movement was . . . inspired by a war film, this time a dociunentary of scorched-earth tactics in China. The middle part of the movement-the music for clarinet, piano, and strings, which moiuits in intensity and volimie until the explosion of the three chords at No. 69~was conceived as a series of instrumental conversations to accompany a cinematographic scene showing the Chinese people scratching and digging in their fields.

The formal substance of the Symphony-perhaps Three Symphonic Movements would be a more exact title-exploits the idea of coimterplay among several types of contrasting elements. One such contrast, the most obvious, is that of harp and piano, the principal instrumental protagonists. Each has a large obbligato role and a whole movement to itself and only at the turning-point fiigue, the queue de poisson of the Nazi machine, are the two heard together and alone.^^

Stravinsky's treatment of the piano in this work can be seen as a

summation of all the techniques used in his middle period works. The piano

^'White, p. 122.

^®Stravinsky, Expositions and Developments, p. 77.

^^Stravinsky, Dialogues and a Diary, p. 52.

85

is generally doubled, especially by high winds or low winds and low strings.

Octave writing is abimdant. There are frequent altemating hand passages and

glissandi. The piano primarily drives the rhythm forward in a percussive

manner. Damper pedal usage is minimal; una corda pedal is often called for.

An excerpt of the first page of the score is shown in Figure 49. The

piano's opening glissando is doubled by low winds and the entire string section, J . 160 <J<SO>

FUuto piccolo

Flautl (randi ^

CUrincl l i in SiV 1 (Pel In La>

Clartndlo basso in SA <iV>iClarimlloinSit 3>

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Violoncello

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Figure 49: Symphony in Three Movements, measures 1-6. © Associated Music Publishers, Inc., New York, 1946; assigned to Schott & Co., Ltd., London, 1946. © Renewed. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Corporation, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott London.

86

punctuated by trombones at the beginning and end of the glissando. The

octaves which follow are doubled by four homs and strings. This section is

very similar in style to parts of the Capriccio.

Figure 50 shows page 8 of the score. The piano is clearly in a soloistic

capacity here, doubled by high and middle strings. The altemation of thick

chords between the hands harks back to passages already discussed in the

Concerto (see Figure 24).

Two other examples from the first movement are given to show their

similarity to the earlier Concerto for Piano and Winds. Figure 51 illustrates

a passage for piano in partial octaves, the use of which can be traced back to

the third movement of the Concerto (see Figure 26), but here carried to a much

greater extreme. The passage is essentially scalar in nature (as can be seen

more clearly in the bassoon, contrabassoon, violoncello, and double bass lines

which double the piano), but becomes quite angular and jagged because of the

Pia

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88

incompleteness of the octaves. Figure 52 shows a contrapuntal section in

which the piano is again used as a soloist, which is very similar in style to the

sections in the first and third movements of the ConceHo. The influence of

American jazz rhythms, particularly the syncopations of ragtime style, can be

readily seen in this example.

The harp and piano first play together in the tutti which begins the

third movement, shown in Figure 53. The score is similar in its incomplete

doubling to the beginning of the Allegro in the ConceHo (see Figure 22). The

harp and piano are assigned almost the same pitches, although the piano

writing is somewhat thicker. The chordal tenths in the right hand part of the

piano call to mind his spacing of chords in Symphony of Psalms.

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90

The fiigue referred to by Stravinsky in the earlier quote as being the

queue de poisson of the Nazi Machine is given in Figure 54. Solo trombone

begins with a partial statement of the fugue subject, followed by piano at

rehearsal niunber 170. The harp enters with its statement of the subject one

measure before rehearsal nimaber 172, doubled partially at the octave, while

the piano begins a countersubject.

A fine example of Stravinsky's treatment of piano doubled with strings

is given in Figure 55. The piano doubles three solo strings: violin, viola, and

Tr-bonc 1

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Figure 55: Symphony in Three Movements, ms. 593-597. © Associated Music Publishers, Inc., New York, 1946; assigned to Schott & Co., Ltd., London, 1946. © Renewed. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Corporation, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott London.

92

violonceflo, but only partially; notice the rests in the piano part which

correspond with pitches in the string parts. The piano is used in this case to

reinforce certain pitches in the phrase without completely being a part of its

statement. The ensuing coxmterpoint with the clarinet and bass clarinet is

also worthy of study.

Symphony in Three Movements marked an important tuming point in

Stravinsky's use of piano within the orchestra. Many of the devices which he

had cultivated since the Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra can be found within

its score. With one short exception, twelve years would pass before he would

again incorporate the piano into an orchestra, in which time his compositional

style would once again make a radical change in direction, and with it, a

change in his treatment of the piano within the orchestra.

Greetins Prelude for Orchestra

The short exception mentioned above is a very short little piece which

Stravinsky wrote in 1955 in honor of the eightieth birthday of his fiiend,

Pierre Monteux, based on the popular melody of "Happy Birthday." It is an

unpretentious work, thirty-two measures in length. The piano is included in

the opening and closing statements, treated in much the same way as the

neoclassic works already discussed. The beginning section is given in Figure

56. The piano is given the theme, and doubled by a succession of instruments

beginning with timpani, then bass drum and trombones, through to the horn

section. The piano writing itself illustrates octave displacement of the melody,

with each measure being one octave higher than the one before; this is

comparable to examples found in works as early as L'Oiseau de Feu and

Quatre Etudes.

93

for the 80tli birthday of Pierre Monteux

J , J : 102

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Figure 56: Greeting Prelude for Orchestra, measures 1-5. Copyright 1956 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

CHAPTER IV

THE LATE WORKS: 1957-1966

During the 1950s, Stravinsky's compositional techniques tumed in the

direction of serialism; this style would become the focal point of his last group

of works. His growing interest in serial techniques had come about largely

because of his collaboration with Robert Craft, a yoimg conductor who had

become Stravinsky's musical aide and assistant in the late 1940s. Craft was

vitally interested in the music of the Viennese seriaHsts, and he encouraged

Stravinsky, who had always kept his distance from serialism, especially the

music of Schoenberg, to listen to and study the scores of a wide range of serial

music. Stravinsky's curiosity was stimulated; he grew particularly receptive

to the music of Anton Webern. As the decade progressed, he assimilated the

techniques of serialism into his own unique compositional style.

The piano had been absent from his orchestral scores since the

Symphony in Three Movements of 1945. With the advent of his serial

compositions, however, the piano returned to use, albeit in a different function.

In his last works, Stravinsky seems less concerned with exploiting the

percussive qualities of the instnmient, and more interested in utilizing its

particular tone color in much the same way as he would any other instrument.

The polyphonic capabilities of the instrument (its ability to sound more than

one pitch at a time) are rarely utilized in the final works; instead, the piano

generally plays a single note at a time. It still is frequently doubled with one

or more other instruments to create certain timbres, but quite often it also

appears alone or in counterpoint with other instnmients, adding its own

imique tone color to the overall sonority; these solo appearances are as long as

several measures or as brief as one staccato note. Pianistic devices such as

glissandi are virtually nonexistent, although an occasional tremolo can be

foimd. Damper pedal usage remains minimal, and Stravinsky continues to

show a preference for the use of the una corda pedal.

94

95

Ason

Stravinsky had received a commission from Lincoln Kirstein and George

Balanchine to create a new ballet score for the New York City Ballet, which he

began in 1953, but then shelved for several years because of other projects. By

the time of its completion in 1957, he had fully developed his serial style and

found the need to recast some of the music written earlier.

The score calls for a large orchestra reminiscent of his early ballet

scores, but always divided into small concertante groups; the thin, rather

pointilHstic scoring is reflective of Stravinsky's interest in the music of Anton

Webern. The piano is present in 100 of the work's 620 measures; it is

effectively combined with many of the other instruments of the orchestra, both

in doubled passages and those more contrapuntal in nature. A complete

analysis of piano usage can be found in Table 18 in the Appendix.

The work is composed of a series of dances for varying numbers of

performers, divided at times by short pieces entitled "Prelude" or "Interlude"

for orchestra alone. Most movements are orchestrated for particular groups

of instnunents which do not change within the movement. For instance, the

"Galliarde," for two female dancers, is written for three flutes, mandolin, harp,

piano, timpani, solo viola, violoncello, and double bass I and II. The writing

is very contrapuntal, with little doubhng of parts.

A section of the "Coda" which follows the "Galliarde" is given in Figure

57. Here the piano is used with trombone and bass trombone to state the

twelve-tone row of A-B-B b -C-D b -E b -E li -F Jt -F li -G-D-G|J which was first played

by harp and solo violoncello at the beginning of the movement. The piano and

trombones trade the notes of the row back and forth, at first in varying

rhythms, but beginning at measure 197, with strict rhythmic regularity. The

piano part is marked sempre una corda f, which Stravinsky has shown a

fondness for since Petrouchka', he must have found this particular sound to

work well with the biting staccato attacks of the trombones. The sparsity of

the notes, the single note Hne, and the use of the piano undoubled by other

96

«i.t*i«

f p f p ^

Figure 57: Agon, measures 190-203. Copyright 1957 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

97

instruments in this type of passage are all characteristics of Stravinsky's

treatment of the piano in his late works.

The first page of the "Coda" to the "Pas-de-Deux" is given in Figure 58.

This music is based on a seven-tone row: G-A b -C b -B b -A li -C l| -D b, which is first

stated by strings in its original form followed immediately by its retrograde.

Coda (both daacort) J . t t t

VI. I. II aZoait.

n.i.ir

uois. a2

TI. I.II

T r i laD*

Figure 58: Agon, measures 495-501. Copyright 1957 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

98

The piano enters in measure 496 by stating the first five pitches, then starting

over with the first four pitches; this statement of the row carries over to the

trombone and trumpet and finishes with the strings in measures 498, followed

again by the retrograde. In measure 500, the piano states the entire row; the

last two pitches serve also as the beginning of the retrograde, which is

entwined with the tnmapet. The last note of the retrograde serves to begin the

original row one last time, stated by piano and trumpet. The piano writing is

again predominantly in single notes, although at the end of measure 496 two

pitches are struck together. The notes are divided between the hands, similar

in technique to many of the altemating hand passages encountered throughout

Stravinsky's music.

The end of this same "Coda" is shown in Figure 59, given as an excellent

example of the use of piano as a doubling instrument. Based on the same

seven-tone row, the passage moves in pitch from the low range to the high

range, with a corresponding use of low and high instnmients in the brasses

and strings, reinforced by timpani. Here, the piano is a unifying factor,

playing every pitch. Each pitch is doubled by one or more instruments, but the

doubling changes on each particular note.

Threni: Id Est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae

Stravinsky's next work after Agon was based on sections of the book of

Jeremiah from the Bible. It is scored for six solo voices, chorus and a

relatively large orchestra which includes parts for fliigelhom (also referred to

in the score as "Bugle C-alto") and sarrusophone (a double reed brass

instrument comparable in range to a contrabassoon); trumpets and bassoons

are omitted.

The piano appears in only 43 of 419 total measures. It is used almost

exclusively as a doubling instrument in Threni. It doubles the sarrusophone in

several sections near the beginning in a series of repeated low F|J's; one such

passage is shown in Figure 60. In this particular usage, the piano reinforces

99 Quasi stretto, J. tii

,2 —s==iir

* l . M l

i'». I ICE Trb. I :^

T in ,

riaao

) iJ J i I J Z ^

poco ritard.

ry-^ r i f ^ Tif r ^ T

attaeca

Figure 59: i4^on, measures 512-519. Copyright 1957 by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

the attack of the sarrusophone and make it clearer and more easily heard; the

blending of the two tone colors certainly creates a unique sound. In a later

passage, the piano doubles timpani and solo Basso II in much the same

manner on a low E b, one of the lowest notes in a basso's range.

100

CORO

^

parlando totto voce

CI. I . I I

Cl.batto

'pF^

Sarru*.

i i i d o . m i ' na (^rn-t i • um:

Ê=EB

\f

Êt

l 5 p ^ H

ti-. m fc^ ^

i i

i: ^

ttaceatisiimo

a^^^=fi

i! una eor(/a

^

i

^î=gil^

1 Plino I i 8 ban. J

4^1 t j . m i 3 ^ ^ a rfp

Cor. to Fa

II *

^ i rt:^ 1 I ^ ^ 5

VI. I

VI. II

vie.

Vc.

Cb.

tfP tfp

M

m

^ ^

pizz.

^ . . . ^ ^

it *> J ' 'r > I/pin.

J M ( •• I

1

i §

i

i

i

Figure 60: Threni: Id Est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae, measures 33-36. Copyright 1958 by Boosey & Co., Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

101

One new utiHzation of the piano occurs several times beginning at

measure 310, shown in Figure 61. The piano plays a sustained low FU,

doubled by chorus, harp, timpani, and double bass. The piano part is marked

2 Ped., meaning to use both damper and una corda pedals, and is given the

direction aW estinzione, which, loosely translated, means to sustain until

inaudible. This effect would be very difficult to produce on either wind or

bowed instruments but is a simple matter for the hammered string of the

piano and the plucked string of the harp.

K«pr.

V«.

ceao

A r M

In - v o . ca • Ti oo.mt-n lu . um, Do . mi . nr.

\cantabtle e legale

de la . cu fiu-

""• 1 ^

fitas.

Iliay.

tcceitf IM p

Figure 61: Threni: Id Est Lamentationes Jeremae Prophetae, measures 310-312. Copyright 1958 by Boosey & Co., Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

102

Movements for Piano and Orchpstm

In 1958, Stravinsky accepted a commission from the husband of pianist

Margrit Weber to write a work for piano and orchestra, in which he was given

caHe blanche in all aspects of the composition. The result was Movements for

Piano and Orchestra, which was completed on July 30, 1959, and premiered

shortly afterward with Ms. Weber as soloist. A humorous story was cited in

Robert Craft's diary concerning the composition of this work:

April 17, 1959: I.S. receives a letter this morning from the people who have commissioned his Movements for piano. After reading it he says, *I think I will have to add another minute or two of music ' V. [his wife. Vera]: *So much for "all-encompassing conceptions of form." The artist simply makes it up as he goes along.'*°

No accounts are available as to whether or not Stravinsky actually did "add

another minute or two of music."

The ten minute long Movements is divided into five short movements;

all but the first are preceded by short interludes for various instrumental

groupings without piano, which serve as transitions into the next movements

by sharing their respective tempi. Even a cursory glance at Figure 62, which

presents the first page of the score, reveals this work to be the most

rhythmically complex which Stravinsky ever composed. Despite its rhythmic

complexity, however, the technical treatment of the piano is very similar to

Agon and Threni; single note writing which often alternates between the hands

predominates, and again the score has the pointillistic look of a work by

Webern.

The work is a study in the combination of different instrumental

timbres. Once used, a particular combination is not heard again, as, for

example, the opening combination of flute, trumpet and violins with the piano

seen in Figure 62. William G. Walden notes that there are a total of

*°Stravinsky, Dialogues and a Diary, p. 197.

MOVEMENTS for Piano and Orchestra

103

IGOR STRAWINSKY 1»S8«»

Plaala I

Traaba I

Fiaao

• l a l l a l t n

VI. I. n

Via.

> /

PIftftO

Figure 62: Movements for Piano and Orchestra, measures 1-12. Copyright 1960 by Hawkes & Son, Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

ninety-five different such groupings of instnmients within the work.'*

In the second movement, measures 55 to 57, as shown in Figure 63, the

pianist is instructed to produce harmonics by pressing down and holding

*^William Glenn Walden, "Igor Stravinsky's Movements for Piano and Orchestra: The Relationships of Formal Stmcture, Serial Technique, and Orchestration," Journal of the Canadian Association of University Schools of Mwsic 9 (Spring 1979): 73-95.

104

certain notes without sounding, and then striking three other notes staccato,

resulting in the sympathetic vibration of the held notes. This is the only

example in Stravinsky's entire orchestral oeuvre of the use of harmonics on the

piano, or indeed any type of "nontraditional" utilization of the instmment. The

piano is also given several measures of rapidly repeated single notes, as first

seen in the Capriccio; these repeated note tremolos can be seen in measures

53 to 55 of Figure 63.

Piano

Via. Sou

Ve. Salo

Tr. I

Arpa

Piaoo

Vc. Sole

marc. >» jf


105

A new type of doubling makes its appearance in the Movements, as

shown in measure 87 of Figure 64. Two instmments (piano and oboe in this

instance) weave or "dovetail" back and forth to create one single line. Notice

that in the quintuplet, the oboe is given the first two parts, the piano is given

the third, they share the fourth, and the oboe is given the fifth to complete the

group. This is a hitherto unseen method of combining the timbres of two

different instmments, where the two instmments in effect become one.

With Movements, Stravinsky showed the complete assimilation of serial

techniques into his compositional style. In his last book written with Robert

Craft, he commented:

The greatest crisis in my life as a composer was the loss of Russia, and its language not only of music but of words. The second great crisis followed The Rake's Progress, though I was not aware of it as such at the time, continuing as I did to move from work to work. The 'period of adjustment' was even longer, and looking back on it now I am surprised myself at how long I continued to straddle two 'styles.' Was it because at seventy unlearning is as difficult as learning? In any case, I now see the Movements as the turn-of-the-corner in my later music.'*^

PiaDO

Ob.

CI.

Arpa


42 Stravinsky, Themes and Conclusions, p. 33.

106

A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer

The piano is again used primarily as a doubHng instmment in A

Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer of 1961, although it does appear several

times without being doubled by any other instnmient. It is present in 60 of

the work's 275 total measures. As is Agon and Threni, the writing is

predominantiy in single notes, such as in the passage foimd in Figure 65,

Taaer* Solo i

Taba

Which of tha pro • phcta, which of the pro • pheta haro

. . . . . . . •>! I tJ ' — " ^ I * I

Figure 65: A Sermon, a Narrative, and a Prayer, measures 150-157. Copyright 1961 by Boosey & Co., Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

107

where the piano is given a jagged, staccato triplet run, doubled inexactly by

bass clarinet. The texture throughout the work remains thin, with the

orchestra again being divided into smaller groupings; note that the passage

contained in Figure 65 is written for only three instruments and solo tenor.

The Flood

The Flood, a musical play "derived principally from the Book of Genesis

and the York and Chester cycles of miracle plays (set down between 1430 and

1500),"*^ was commissioned by the CBS Television Network and premiered

in a broadcast on June 14, 1962. It was written for solo tenor, two solo bassi,

chorus of sopranos, altos, and tenors, five speaking roles, and large orchestra.

The piano is used in 149 of the 582 measures of the score. Treatment of the

piano is very similar to the other late works already discussed, with single note

passages predominating. The piano is quite often doubled, especially by harp

and flute.

An extremely fascinating use of doubling occurs in the passages where

God speaks to Noah; one such passage is given in Figure 66. God's voice is

represented by two solo basses, weaving in and out of unison. The piano

doubles the first solo bass, one or two octaves lower in register, while the harp

doubles the second solo bass in the same register. In my opinion, the overall

effect of this combined doubling conveys the omniscience and overpowering

might of the voice of God in a masterful way never before portrayed.

In the section depicting the flood itself, Stravinsky uses an eerie,

unchanging cluster of sound throughout the entire movement, given to

contrabassoon, harp, piano, and low strings, to create a sense of desolation and

unending isolation from aU Hving things. This chord is reiterated thirty-three

times during the scene and is shown in Figure 67. Each hand of the piano

*^Stravinsky, The Flood (London: Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd., 1962), Titie Page.

GOD OOTT

1 Baaal Ball

J . 86-80 "» 2 " " a

.hmm}rm rm i ,rm rm,nm i rm rmj^aJ. alaaaala

Arpa

«<•«.

Via.

umpr* p • • ! p«al

Cr.C.

i \ I

108

Figure 66: The Flood, measures 180-188. Orchestral Score copyright 1963 by Boosey & Hawkes Music PubHshers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

part is given a diminished octave, and the sustained sounds are to be held with

the damper pedal, one of the few instances where Stravinsky cafled for its use.

Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam

The short (five minute) set of variations dedicated to his friend Aldous

Huxley's memory was written in 1964. The piano makes only brief

109

Figure 67: The Flood, measures 405-408. Orchestral score copyright 1963 by Boosey & Hawkes Music PubHshers, Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

appearances, being used in eighteen of the work's 141 total measures. It

appears on five separate occasions as an unaccompanied solo instmment,

performing either a single chord or a quick burst of single notes. In doubHng

usage, it appears six times, each time with a different combination of

instmments. For a complete analysis of usage, refer to Table 23 in the

Appendix.

110

Figure 68 illustrates measures 5 through 10 of the score. In measure 6,

the piano is doubled by harp and the string section moving from low to high

registers; the passage is very similar to the one already discussed in Agon and

shown in Figure 59. The piano once again plays single notes, divided between

the hands, and plays the entire passage.

Figure 68: Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam, measures 5-10. Copyright 1965 by Boosey & Hawkes Music PubHshers, Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

I l l

In measures 7 and 8, the piano executes a "dovetailed" passage with

harp, similar to those discussed in Movements for Piano and Orchestra and

shown in Figure 59. Another example of "dovetailing" occurs in measures 15

through 17, this time with flute, shown in Figure 69. In this instance, not only

do the two instruments weave back and forth, but the two hands of the piano

part weave back and forth in the manner used so often by Stravinsky.

Figure 70 shows two separate instances of the piano used as an

unaccompanied solo instrument, as mentioned above. In measure 130 to 131,

the piano is given a short passage of single notes alternating between the

hands in a familiar manner, and in measure 134, a short upward sweep is

followed by a brief measured tremolo on two pitches.

Figure 69: Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam, measures 15-17. Copyright 1965 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers, Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

Canon for Concert Introduction or Encore

This extremely brief piece for large orchestra was somewhat of an

anomaly for Stravinsky. Written in 1964, this thirty-five measure piece

(including a repeat of all but the last measure) is an exercise in canonic

treatment of a melodic idea, in this case the "Russian popular tune" which

Stravinsky used fifty-five years earHer in the finale of L'Oiseau de feu. The

first page of the two page score is given in Figure 71. UnHke the serial works

of this period, the Canon is written for tutti orchestra throughout. The theme

is actually written in canon with its inversion; the inverted theme begins in

measure 5, followed one beat later by the theme, at the interval of a perfect

CM.I

112

4

I i . '

^ ^

^ • f '

a 5»

1 ^ ^a 2 » 7-

»

Figure 70: Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam, measures 130-134. Copyright 1965 by Boosey & Hawkes Music PubHshers, Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

fourth. Both versions also appear in augmented form, two beats apart. The

piano part is a focal point in the score, as the left hand is given the inverted

theme and the right hand is given the original theme, both in octaves; both

lines are doubled extensively throughout the orchestra.

113

CANON* lor Coiicerl liilruduclioii or Encore

I'ortissiiMo c Modcruto rianui picvtilo

e r iaul l graiitll

Clalliirtli) lij<i<n III Sib

1.2. 3 Tioi i ibr III l>i>

3.

£ Tioiiilioiii Tetioif

Tiuniliunr liasMi

' u * a liii.^xiiia {KicHlar lunr.

Figure 71: Canon for Concert Introduction or Encore, measures 1-8. Copyright 1973 by Boosey & Hawkes Music PubHshers, Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

114

Requiem Canticles

The Requiem Canticles of 1966 was Stravinsky's last work to include

orchestra; the only completed composition postdating it is a Hght piece. The

Owl and the Pussycat, for solo voice and piano, although several projects

remained uncompleted. The piano appears only in the "Dies Irae" and the

"Postlude," and is only present in sixteen of the work's 350 measures.

Stravinsky's treatment of the piano in his final work is very similar to his

other works of the serial period. Figure 72 contains two statements of a

Tr. I. II

Trba. I. II S Ua. ^ =

Figure 72: Requiem Canticles, measures 85-87. Copyright 1967 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers, Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

115

phrase which occurs five separate times in the "Dies Irae." The piano is

doubled with timpani and full string section in a manner similar to those

already discussed in Agon (Figure 59) and Variations (Figure 68), but is made

more interesting by the inexactness of the doubling, both in rhythm and in

pitch: second violins share the first pitch and the triplet rhythm of beat three,

but diverge in pitch; violas play in the same rhythm and share a common pitch

on each beat, but diverge in pitch between the beats; violoncelli play two

common pitches in the first two beats, but in a different rhythm.

Figure 73 contains the last measures of the Requiem Canticles. The

piano is utilized in a chordal capacity, sounding six pitches, doubled on all

C«»fM«t

Figure 73: i^egwiem Ca;i^tc/es, measures 302-305. Copyright 1967 by Boosey & Hawkes Music PubHshers, Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

116

pitches by piccolo, flute, alto flute, harp, celesta, bells, vibraphone, and hom.

It is interesting to note that Stravinsky incorporates the pianistic device of

placing the lowest sound of a widely stretched chord, one which cannot be

reached by the hands of a pianist, before the beat as a tied grace note. It

obviously was more important to him that the piano sound all of the tones

written, even if it meant changing the rhythmic sense of the measure. (One

wonders why he did not assign the lowest notes of the chords to a second

pianist; it is highly possible that Stravinsky, ever the pragmatist, could not

justify another performer for so small a role).

Although the Requiem Canticles was a work specifically commissioned

to be dedicated to the memory of Helen Buchanan Seeger, it must be supposed

that Stravinsky also had in mind his own approaching death and that it would

be his own requiem. It is fitting and beneficial for the purposes of this

particular study that he chose to incorporate the piano into his last major

work, bringing to a close a tradition that had begun with his first major

success nearly sixty years previously.

Stravinskv*s Attitudes Regarding Non-traditional Usage of Piano

. . . And what of the future? I shall continue to trust my taste buds and the logic of my ear, quaint expressions which I may be able to ampHfy by adding that I require as much hearing at the piano as ever before. I know, too, that I will never cross the gulf from well-tempered pitches to sound effects and noise, and never abdicate the rule of my ears.**

This comment, made by Stravinsky to Robert Craft in the early 1960s,

is an eloquent statement of his compositional and musical philosophy of music.

Although one cannot be certain what Stravinsky is referring to as "well-

tempered pitches," I believe he was alluding to the twelve pitches of the

chromatic scale, which can be identified as the twelve different keys within an

44 Stravinsky, Themes and Conclusions, p. 33.

117

octave on the piano. His treatment of the piano within the orchestra reflected

this resolution not to resort to "soimd effects and noise." Through all of the

major stylistic changes which marked his long compositional career, he never

once utilized the instrument in any of the nontraditional methods which were

in vogue during the twentieth century, such as the plucking of the strings with

the fingers; striking of the strings with mallets; use of the prepared piano with

bolts, metal cHps, paper, mbber, felt, etc., attached to or laid across the

strings; striking the wooden cabinet of the piano; or using of electronic

keyboard instruments. The closest he came to a nontraditional usage of the

piano was the one-time use of harmonics in the Movements for Piano and

Orchestra, discussed in Chapter IV.

His contempt for some of these effects is evident in the following

comment:

Progress, or at least invention, might have been detected by the non-initiate in the new techniques for the movement of sound in space. But some of the other 'pioneering' of the period must have seemed to him [the non-initiate] like paring closer and closer to nothingness . . . [for instance] the performances on the woodwork of the piano (after the attractions of 'topless' pianos had been overexposed). . . *

In an earlier dialogue with Robert Craft, when discussing

instrumentation, Stravinsky commented that an "old" instrument, the piano,

interested him more than an Ondes Martinot.*^ This was an electronic music

instrument invented by Maurice Marteriot, first presented in 1928, which used

a keyboard and produced only one note at a time. Vibrato could be created,

and both low and high ranges exceeded the limits of the piano. Wide glissando

sweeps and expressive portamentos were possible. Many of Stravinsky's

*^Stravinsky, Themes and Conclusions, p. 150.

*^Stravinsky, Conversations with Igor Stravinsky, p. 32.

118

contemporaries wrote works for it or incorporating it, including Milhaud,

Jolivet, Ibert, Honegger, Varese, and Messiaen.*^

On still another occasion, he made the following remark about the use

of computers to create music:

At a recent concert featuring one of Bell Laboratory's IBM computers . . . I leamed that the instrument costs more than $100 an hour to rent and a great deal more than that to operate. . . . the concert, by the way, persuasively demonstrated that this new means of communication has as yet nothing to communicate.*®

Stravinsky also refrained from using pianos which had been timed in

non-traditional ways. Regarding quarter-tone pianos, he once commented that

"I remember playing a quarter-tone piano four hands with Hindemith in the

Berlin Hochschule in the 1920's. I also remember my surprise at how quickly

our ears became accustomed to it. . . . Since then I have thought about

quarter-tones but avoided writing them."*^ Although he made this comment

in the 1950s, it would hold true for the rest of his life. He was content to

utilize the piano within traditional means and soimds only.

*^Stanley Sadie, ed.. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 13 (New York: MacmiUan PubHshers Limited, 1980), pp. 540-541.

*®Stravinsky, Themes and Conclusions, p. 20.

*^Stravinsky, Expositions and Developments, p. 103-104.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The purpose of this study has been to docimient Stravinsky's treatment

of the piano as an orchestral instmment and to trace the changes which took

place in this treatment from the beginning to the end of his compositional

career. In particular, six areas have been analyzed and presented in the tables

which form the Appendix at the end of this study: doublings with other

instruments; octave usage; pianistic effects; percussive effects; pedal usage; and

solo passage-work. This next section will simimarize trends discovered in

analyzing each of these areas within the context of the entire orchestral output

and relate these trends in piano usage to the changes in Stravinsky's

compositional style throughout his career.

Doublings with Other Instruments

Although the piano was used to double other instnmients throughout

Stravinsky's orchestral works, the ways in which it was doubled changed

considerably from the early to the late compositions. In the earliest works,

Stravinsky doubled the piano most often in large tutti sections, in combination

with groups of instruments, such as high winds or low strings, or with harp

and/or celesta; less often with individual instruments. Beginning in the 1920s,

he began to double the piano more often with individual instruments, or with

smaller groups of instruments, and frequently used partial doubling of other

instruments, such as has been discussed in the Allegro of the Concerto for

Piano and Winds. Very often, the piano would be given all notes of a

particular musical phrase, while the other instruments would weave in and out

of the phrase. In the serial works toward the end of his life, the piano is

generally doubled by one or sometimes two instruments. Partial doubling and

doubling with slight variations in pitch and rhythm are common. Stravinsky

showed an interest in producing as many different types of tone colors as

119

120

possible, through constantly changing combinations of instruments, and

oftentimes a particular grouping appeared only once in a composition; this

exploration of tone color reached its apex in Movements for Piano and

Orchestra.

Although examples can be found of the piano being doubled with each

instnmient of the orchestra at one time or another, certain instnmients were

doubled much more frequently. Stravinsky showed a marked affinity for the

soimd of piano doubled with piccolo and/or flute, sometimes joined also by oboe

or clarinet. When in the lower registers of the piano, he often doubled the

pitches with bassoon, bass clarinet, and sometimes contrabassoon.

Of the brass family, he seems to have preferred the piano sound doubled

by the horn. Trombone and tuba double the lower registers with less

frequency; the use of sarrusophone combined with piano in Threni creates a

unique timbre. The highest of the brass instruments, the tnmfipet, is rarely

doubled with the piano except in full orchestral tutti sections; when it does

appear with piano, it is often placed one or two octaves lower than the piano

in register. The trumpet does appear frequently in canon with the piano, in

the same register.

The percussion instnmient most frequently doubled with the piano (in

its low register) is the timpani; the combination of timpani, piano, and harp is

used often in the neoclassical works. The xylophone is combined with the

piano's higher register several times in the early and middle period works; it

appears only once with piano in the later works, in two measures of The Flood.

OccasionaUy, the piano is doubled in rhythm by the bass dnun, snare drum,

or other percussion instrument.

Stravinsky evidently regarded the doubling of piano and stringed

instruments as a special problem. In the early 1930s, after completing his

violin concerto, he commented:

For years I had disliked the sounds produced in combination by the percussive strings of the piano and the strings vibrated by the

121

bow. In order to be able to accept this combination of instmments, I felt I had to use the smallest possible grouping, i.e., as two solo instruments, so as to find a way of solving the instrumental and acoustical problems arising from the alliance of the two different types of strings. This is what suggested the Duo Concertant for violin and piano. The wedding of the two instruments seems to make for greater clarity than the combination of pianoforte with several stringed instruments, which tends to sound like an orchestral ensemble.^°

Perhaps because of this reservation regarding the combination of the

percussive piano tone and the bowed string tone, Stravinsky often instructed

string instruments to play pizzicato (pluck with the fingers) when doubled by

piano. However, the piano does still double many passages which are bowed,

especially in the earlier works. When appearing with strings, the piano most

often doubles either the entire section in all registers, or else doubles the

violoncello and double bass in the lower register; it appears with violins alone

much less frequently.

Octave Usage

Octaves seemed to hold a particular fascination for Stravinsky; at times,

they also .seemed to present him with a great problem. It was already

mentioned at the beginning of this study that Stravinsky viewed octaves as

being particularly pianistic and that no other instrument produced them so

well. In 1968, near the end of his life, he commented to Robert Craft: "I had

no sooner forbidden myself to use octaves in one piece than I saw what

richness I could extract from them, and I used them in the next piece all the

time."^^ Octaves appear in his music in diverse ways: each hand playing a

single note one or more octaves apart; one hand playing a line in octaves and

^ ^ a d , p. 116.

"Robert Craft, Chronicle of a Friendship, 1948-1971 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972), p. 343.

122

the other playing a single note Hne one or more octaves above or below; one

hand in octaves while the other hand plays something completely different;

both hands striking simultaneously in octaves; hands altemating back and

forth in octaves; hands altemating back and forth with one hand in octaves

and the other on single notes; one or both hands in octaves along with other

chordal tones filled in; partial octave runs in which octaves altemate with

single notes within the same hand.

Octaves appear frequently in the early works; Petrouchka contains

mainly different types of octave writing, as does Le Chant du Rossignol and

the revised Suite L'Oiseau de feu of 1919; Figures 1 and 15 contain good

examples of octave passages. Chordal octaves, in which one or both hands

must play an octave along with one or more chord tones within, occurred

infrequently in Petrouchka, and are more prevalent in the middle period works,

especially the Concerto for Piano and Winds and the Capriccio for Piano and

Orchestra. Partial octaves, already discussed at length, also appear, beginning

with the Concerto for Piano and Winds and culminating in the Symphony in

Three Movements. The use of octaves disappears after the latter work, except

for the anomalous Canon for Concert Introduction or Encore, as Stravinsky

began his compositions in serial style.

Pianistic Effects

Besides octaves, which Stravinsky viewed as being so pianistic, he also

made great use of other pianistic effects such as glissandi, arpeggios, tremolos,

passages which altemate between the hands, and passages which remain on

the white or black keys. Glissandi appear frequently in each of the early

works; appearances in the middle period works are mainly limited to

orchestrations of earHer pieces such as the Suite No. 2 and the Quatre Etudes,

although they reappear in the early 1930s in Symphony of Psalms, Persephone,

and Scherzo a la Russe. Two occurrences of glissandi in Symphony in Three

Movements of 1945 would become the last time he used this effect. There are

123

none in the later works, although he evidentiy still liked the effect of a

gHssando. Late in his Hfe, in discussing Kariheinz Stockhausen's Carre, he

said: "Not only are the sounds attractive, but so are the Aion-sounds. . . I also

like the role of the piano, both solo and in combination; and I like the glissandi

at 67.""

Arpeggios are most prevalent in the early works such as Petrouchka and

Suite L'Oiseau de feu. They appear occasionally in the middle period works

such as Oedipus Rex, but are not present in the late works. Tremolos do occur

in several of the late works, as well as the early and middle period

compositions. Passages altemating between the hands, often at great speed,

occur frequently, especially in the middle period works such as the Concerto

and the Capriccio. Stravinsky must have found this pianistic technique

particularly appealing because of its percussive nature. Although the nature

of his writing in the late works did not dictate much need for the use of

altemating hands, he did write several passages in this manner, in A Sermon,

a Narrative, and a Prayer and Requiem Canticles. One final pianistic effect

worthy of mentioning again is found in Threni, where he instructs the pianist

(and harpist) to let the sound vibrate all' estinzione, or until inaudible.

Percussive Effects

Stravinsky's perception of the piano as a percussion instnmient, which

began early in his career and, by his own statement, reached full fruition in

the Concerto, has been well documented in this study. He treated the piano

in a non-lyrical, dry, detached manner in much of his music, and gave

nimierous and varied types of accents and sforzandos to indicate different

levels of stress which he desired to be place on the attacks. These various

indications of accent are given in the "Percussive effects" column in the tables

of the Appendix.

^^Stravinsky, Themes and Conclusions, p. 25.

124

Pedal Usage

It has already been mentioned that Stravinsky was uncomfortable with

and seldom used the damper pedal, and a glance through the tables confirms

this. The abstinence from use of the damper pedal results in a sharper,

clearer, more percussive tone which is much more in keeping with his

aesthetic. His fondness for the una corda pedal, which is apparent throughout

the orchestral works, is noteworthy, especially in the rather frequent forte

passages which are to be played with this pedal. This again would tend to

reinforce the percussiveness of the piano tone, as the pianist must attack each

note with greater sharpness and precision to obtain a loud tone with the pedal

engaged.

Solo passage-work

Stravinsky's perception of the piano as a solo instrument underwent

major changes throughout his lifetime. In the early works, the solo passages

for piano have a distinctly pianistic character, such as in Petrouchka. When

Stravinsky used the piano, he generally intended to feature it as a concertante

instrument. This attitude still prevailed in the late teens when he wrote

L'Histoire du Soldat. As already has been discussed, he intentionally did not

include piano in it because he felt he would have to make it a vehicle of

virtuosity for the instrument. The solo works for piano and orchestra of his

middle period, the Concerto and the Capriccio, as well the Symphony in Three

Movements, reflected this virtuosic conception. In several of the works of the

1930s, such as Symphony of Psalms and Persephone, he began to integrate the

piano more completely into the orchestral texture, and to rely on it less as a

solo instrument.

This integration became complete in the serial works, in which the piano

is no longer used in the virtuosic sense; instead, it often plays one note at a

time and is exploited more in terms of its tone color. Even in the Movements

for Piano and Orchestra, in which the piano is featured as the solo instrument,

125

it is treated in a more integrated fashion. What prominence it has in this

piece could be due more to its commission as a work for piano and orchestra

than any other factor.

Conclusion

Stravinsky's treatment of the piano in the orchestral works written

through the course of his long career can be seen to parallel and reflect the

evolution of his compositional style as a totality. In its earHest uses, it was

used primarily as a soloistic instrument or as a doubling instrument within the

context of a huge orchestra, in deference to his Russian tutelage under

Rimsky-Korsakov. As Stravinsky moved toward a thinner, ascetic, and more

contrapuntal style which relied on concertato principles, the role of the piano

increased in importance because its percussive and polyphonic qualities so

closely matched the aesthetic he was cultivating. Finally, when his

compositional style tumed to serialism in the 1950s, the technical and

polyphonic capabilities of the instnmient became secondary to the piano's tone,

which rose in importance as a distinct color in his textural and tonal spectrum,

and its use primarily as a single line instnmient reflected the more pointillistic

approach to composition in the final works.

The study of Stravinsky's treatment of the piano in his orchestral works

offers a wealth of information to anyone interested in new and creative uses

of the instrument; conductors and pianists in particular will find much of

value. He was a pioneer in the inclusion of the piano as an integral member

of the orchestra, and his unique, fascinating explorations into the possibilities

of piano treatment in the orchestral texture reveal yet another facet of his

genius.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adler, Samuel. The Study of Orchestration. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1982.

BerHoz, Hector. Treatise on Instrumentation. Enlarged/revised by Richard Strauss. Translated by Theodore Front. New York: Edwin F. Kalmus PubHshing, 1948.

Blatter, Alfred. Instrumentation I Orchestration. New York and London: Longman, 1980.

Caesar, Clifford. Igor Stravinsky: A Complete Catalogue. San Francisco: San Francisco Press, 1982.

Craft, Robert. Stravinsky: The Chronicle of a Friendship; 1948-1971. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1972.

de Lerma, Dominique-Ren^, and Ahrens, Thomas J. Igor Fedorovitch Stravinsky, 1882-1971; A Practical Guide to Publications of His Music. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1974.

Eaton, Quaintance. Opera Production, a Handbook. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1961.

Forsyth, Cecil. Orchestration, 2nd ed. New York: The MacmiUan Company, 1949.

Horgan, Paul. Encounters With Stravinsky; A Personal Record. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1972.

Jacob, Gordon. The Elements of Orchestration. New York: October House, 1965.

Jacob, Gordon. Orchestral Technique, A Manual For Students, 3rd ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1982.

Joseph, Charles M. Stravinsky and the Piano. Ann Arbor, IVHchigan: UMI Research Press, 1983.

Joseph, Charles M. A Study of Igor Stravinsky's Piano Compositions. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International, 1974.

126

127

Kennan, Kent. The Technique of Orchestration. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1952.

Lang, Paul Henry. Stravinsky; A New Appraisal of His Work, With a Complete List of Works. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1963.

Libmann, LilHan. And Music at the Close: Stravinsky's Last Years, a Personal Memoir. New York, W. W. Norton, and Co., 1972.

Onnen, Frank. Stravinsky. Translated from the Dutch by M. M. Kessler-Button. Stockholm: The Continental Book Company, 1948.

Piston, Walter. Orchestration. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1955.

Read, Gardner. Style and Orchestration. New York: Schirmer Books, 1979.

Read, H. Owen, and Leach, Joel T. Scoring For Percussion, and the Instruments of the Percussion Section. Englewood CHffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hafl, Inc., 1969.

Redcay, Erwin Thomas. The Piano as an Orchestral Instrument. Doctoral ^ dissertation, Eastman School of Music, 1962.

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay. Principles of Orchestration. Translated by Edward Agate. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1964.

Routh, Francis. Stravinsky. London: J. M. Dent, 1975.

Rubinstein, Arthur. My Many Years. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1980.

Siohan, Robert. Stravinsky. Translated by Eric Walter White. London: Calder and Boyars, 1965.

Stravinsky, Igor. An Autobiography. New York: Simon and Shuster, 1936.

Stravinsky, Igor. A Complete Catalogue of His Published Works. London: Boosey and Hawkes, 1957.

Stravinsky, Igor, and Craft, Robert. Conversations With Igor Stravinsky. Berkeley: University of CaHfomia Press, 1980

Stravinsky, Igor. Selected Correspondence. Translated and edited with commentary by Robert Craft. London: Faber and Faber Co., 1982.

128

Stravinsky, Igor, and Craft, Robert. Dialogues and a Diary. London: Faber and Faber, 1968.

Stravinsky, Igor, and Craft, Robert. Expositions and Developments. Berkeley: University of CaHfomia Press, 1962.

Stravinsky, Igor, and Craft, Robert. Memories and Commentaries. London: Faber and Faber, 1960.

Stravinsky, Igor. Poetics of Music. Translated by Arthur Knodel and Ingolf Dahl. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1947.

Stravinsky, Igor, and Craft, Robert. Retrospectives and Conclusions. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1969.

Stravinsky, Igor, and Craft, Robert. Themes and Conclusions. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.

Stravinsky, Vera, and Craft, Robert. Stravinsky in Pictures and Documents. New York: Faber and Faber, 1978.

Strobel, Heinrich. Stravinsky: Classic Humanist. Translated by Hans Rosenwald. New York: Merlin Press, 1955.

Terse, Paul. Studien zur Verwendung des Konzertflugels im Opernorchester in der Zeit von etwas 1930 bis etwa 1970. Regensburg: Bosse, 1982.

Thomason, Marshall Malone. Neo-Tonality: A Unified Approach to Stravinsky's Neoclassical Music. Dissertation Abstracts International, Vol. 48/05-A, 1987.

Tierney, Neil. The Unknown Country: A Life of Igor Stravinsky. London: R. Hale, 1977.

Toom, Pieter C. van den. The Music of Igor Stravinsky. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983.

Vlad, Roman. Stravinsky. Translated from the Italian by Robert Craft and Andr^ Marion. London: Oxford University Press, 1961.

Walden, William Glenn. Igor Stravinsky's Movements for Piano and Orchestra: The Relationships of Formal Structure, Serial Technique, and Orchestration. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1979.

129

White, Eric Walter. Stravinsky: The Composers and His Works, 2nd ed. London: Faber and Faber, 1979.

APPENDIX

TABLES OF ANALYSIS SHOWING PIANO USAGE

FOR EACH WORK DISCUSSED

130

The tables which follow give a detailed analysis of each orchestral work by Igor Stravinsky which has been discussed in this study. Measure numbers are given in the first column, followed by all pertinent appearances imder the colimMi headings: doubling, octave usage, pianistic effects, percussive effects, pedal usage, and solo passagework. At the end of each table, the total measures containing piano and the total measures of the work are given.

Kev To Instnmaental Abbreviations B belt b.d. brs bsn eel chor cl cym db e.h. fl full orch glock hm hrp marib ob P. I, P. II pelt perc pic sarrus s.d. stngs T tam tba tbn timp tpt vc via vn xylo wnds

bass section of chorus bass clarinet bass drum brass section bassoon celeste chorus clarinet C5nnbals double bass section engHsh hom flute full orchestra glockenspiel hom harp marimba oboe Piano I, Piano II piccolo clarinet (E flat) percussion piccolo sarrusophone snare dnmi entire string section tenor section tam-tam tuba trombone timpani trumpet violoncello section viola section violin section xylophone wind section

131

132

Kev To Other Abbreviations And Svmbols Used accom alt hands arp ben marc, bth hnds

cdnza chrds con diff rthm d/n

gliss l.h. l.v. par ped or Ped pizz r.h. rhy rip s/n syn accents trem u.c. var 3/n

8vaT 15vaT

a solo passage which is accompanimental altemating hands passage arpeggio ben mareato both hands; refers to both hands, each playing octaves, but on different pitches cadenza chords concertino group different rhythm 4 note octave line, with each hand playing an octave on the same pitch in different registers glissando left hand laissez vibrer, or let vibrate partial or incomplete doubling damper pedal pizzicato right hand rhjrthmic doubling, not in pitch ripieno group 2 note octave line, with each hand playing one of the notes syncopated accents tremolo una corda pedal variation; not doubled exactly in pitch or rhythm 3 note octave line, with one hand plajdng two notes an octave apart, the other hand pla5dng a single note one or more octaves away piano plays 1 octave higher than instrument cited piano plays 2 octaves higher than instrument cited

133

Table 3: L'Oiseau de feu (Original 1910 version)

Measure

102

179-180

657-666

667-672

675-681

682-683

Doubling

cel/hrp

full orch

glock/hrp

full orch

eel (15vaT)

pic/fl/ob/ e.hVcl

Octave usage

Pianistic effects

tremolo

Percussive effects

Pedal usage

Solo passagework

Total measures with piano: 28 Total measures of work: 1294

Table 4: Petrouchka

134

Measure

11,21

14-17

25-41

42-61

73-81,95-99 155-163

88-92

130-131

140-144, 151-154

166-194

206-240

249-250

252-254

255-258

264-265

296-299

305-312

313-324

325-340

341-347

348-349,352 353,356-357

363-374

375-386,389

387-388,390 392

iinO-407

Doubling

fVbsn(var)

vn(var)

pic/fl/ob/ tpt(32,35-41)

full orch

bclt/bsn/timp/ vc/dbO.h.) vn/vla(r.h.)

bclt/bsn/timp/ vc/dbO.h.) tptCr.h.)

pic/vc

Octave usage

3/n 8va apart

r.h.

l.h. r.h. in 9ths

l.h. r.h. in 9ths

s/n 15va apart

pic/ob(154,r.h.)

similar to 25-61

similar to 73-99

ob, pic/fl in canon

pic/fl in canon

fl (var)

pic/fl/tpt/ hrp/stngs

fl/hrp(var)

pic/fl/ob/ e.h./clt/bclt/ hm/tpt

hrp/vn(var)

fl/vn(canon)

full orch

- bsn/vla/vc/db

1

1- pic/xylo

s/n 8va apart

s/n 8va

r.h.

r.h.(328, 337-339)

r.h.chordal

l.h.

3/n 8va apart

r.h.chordal

Pianistic effects

gliss(41)

arpeggio

gliss(174)

gliss(312)

alt hands

ghss(339-40)

alt hands

white key runs

1

Percussive Pedal effects usage

mareato sempre

lefl pedal

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X (lyric)

X (accom)

X

X

Table 4: Continued

135

Measure

408-423 425,427,429-430,432-438

449

455-456

467-481

482-490

491-509

510-515

516-517

518-533

536-543

544-552

553-558

559

562

567-569

573-576

610

613

617

745-751

763-765

777

782-784

Doubling

pic/fl(var)

pic/fl/ob/ e.h7cl/tpt

cym

fl/ob/e.h./ cl/bsn/hm/ tpt/s.d.

fl(492-495)

cl/vn(var)

fl/ob/e.h./ bsn/hm/s.dy stngs

tpt/stngs

hrp/stngs

full orch

hm/stngs(par

bsn/tbn/timp/ vc/db

pic/fl

bsn/hm/hrp/ stngs(var)

fl/tpt(var)

fl/vn

ob/bsn/hm/vc

hrn

Octave usage

d/n (incomplete)

d/n

r.h.

chord

) l.h.

r.h. (748-751)

Pianistic effects

r.h. white/ l.h. black alt hands

alt hands trem

alt hands runs

alt hands runs

arpeggios, alt hands runs

alt hands runs

black/white alt hands

alt hands trem

alt hands trem

alt hands

alt hands, repeated notes

both hands alt hands

; both hands alt hands


Percussive effects

sf-p

Pedal usage

left pedal

Solo passagework

X X

X

X

X (lyric)

X (accom)

X (lyric)

X (accom)

X (runs)

X

X

136

Table 4: Continued

Measure

785

787-792

793-794

799

803-811

812-819

826-833

875-878

885-890

936-939,942-945,972-979

956-960

1056-1067

1068-1105

1106-1107

1115-1125

1127-1130

1149-1160

1198-1201

1202

1204-1208

1210-1211

1215

Doubling

tba/timp/b.d7 db

hm/tpt/tbn/ stngs

full orch

fl/hm/hrp

hrp/vla(var)

pic/fl

stngs(var)

fl/cl/tpt

• hrp

cl/hrp(var)

hrp

hrp(var)

ob/e.h./cy hm/hrp

pic/fl

cl

cl/fl/pic(par)

vn/vla(var)

fl

vn/vc

Octave usage

l.h.

Pianistic effects



s/n 15va apart

3/n

bth hnds

bth hnds

3/n 8va

arpeggios

solo line, arpeggioSjChords

alt hands measured trem

alt hands, repeated notes ghss (889-90)

alt hands,re-peated fifths

single chords

Percussive effects

sffF

sf

i

ostinato

sff

alt hands (3rds) ben articulate white keys only

alt hnds,chrds

alt hnds

arpeg,alt hnds

gliss

sf

ben marc.

Pedal usage

ped.

ped.

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X


Table 5: Le Chant du Rossignol

137

Measure

1-2

3

4

7-11

13-16

27-32

33-38

44-49

50-53

64-65

67

108

117-118

127-129

130-133

136

137-142

151-159

182-183

193-196

197-202

203-214

215-226

227-237

Doubling

hm/trb/hrp

cl

fl/cKbeat 2)

cel/hrp(var)

vcO.h.)

hrp(52-53)

pic/fl/cel

full orch

h m

stngs,timp

pic/hm/hrp/ stngs

cel(var)

tpt(canon)

fl/cl

hrp( canon)

hrp/vc/db

fl/ob/tpt/ tbn/tba/timp/ stngs

Octave usage

l.h.

3/n(beat 2)

3/n(13-14)

s/n 8va apart

Pianistic effects

gliss. alt hands trem

s/n arpeggio

alt hands trem

arpeggio(beat 1)

alt hands, repeated notes pno on whites, cel/hrp black

alt hands trem, chordal

4 gliss

gliss

s/n arpeggios

all black keys

all black keys s/n alt hands

tremolo on repeated note

Percussive effects

sf downbeat on 28,30,32

Pedal Solo usage passagework

ped.

alt meas: Ped,l.v./ una corda sf

X

X

una corda

X(accom)

Una corda X sempre poco sf

ped.

l.v.

l.v.

Table 5: Continued

138

Measure

247,274 251-258

291-293

295-300

Doubling

fl vn/vla(var)

vc

Octave usage

Pianistic effects

s/n arpeggio

s/n trem on repeated notes

Percussive effects

poco sf

sf

Pedal usage

alt meas:

Solo passagework

X

301-306

312-317

alt hands, repeated notes

alt hands trem, chordal

318-321

332-333

335

345-350

367-384

385-390

391-395

396-403

404-413

460-463

484

489

492

549-576

hrp(320-321)

pic/fl/cl/ eel

hrp(l.h.)

hrp/stngs

ob/clr/hm

vc/db,hrp(400) fVob/cl/hm/ hrp/stgs(403)

fl/cl/hrp/ stgs (par)

stgs(downbeat)

tam/hrp

fl/cl(par)

tam/hrp/vc/db

l.h.sus

l.h.sus

gliss

black keys

gliss

alt hand s/n tremolo at 10th

repeated note

arpeggio

sf

Ped,l.v./ Una corda sf

l.v.

ped.

X

X


Table 6: Suite de L'Oiseau de feu (1919)

139

Measure

22

34

36-37

41,45

47, 49, 50

48

52-54, 56-57

59

62,66

72,73

74-81

204,214,218, 222,224,226, 230

230-237

238,240

241

250,252,254, 256

257-258

266-267

270-271

272-275

276-277

Doubling

fl/vn/vla

cl/bsn/hm

picc/fl

vn/vc (beat 2)

vn (2nd half ol each beat: 52, 54, 56)

hrp

fl

hrp

full orch

fl,pic(233-37), xylo(231,235), hrp(234-237)

picc/fl/ob/cl/ bsn/hm/tpt/ hrp/stgs

fl/bsn/hrp

, vc

fl/hrp

fl/ob/hm

fl/vn

fVob/cl/hm tpt in canon

pic/fVob/cl/ Ibsn/hm/tpt/ tbn/tba

Octave usage

s/n 15va apart

s/n 8va apart

s/n 8va apart

d/n 15va apart

d/n 8va apart

d/n alt

d/n alt

d/ntgthr

Pianistic effects

s/n run

tremolo

gliss (r.h.) arpeggio (l.h.)

arpeggio

arpeggios

gliss (r.h.) arpeggio (l.h.)

gliss

arpeggios gliss (ms. 80)

arpeggio

Percussive effects

sf, >

sf, >

sfff

sf sempre

> each octave

> each octave

Pedal usage

l.v.

l.v.

l.v.(beat 3)

l.v.

l.v.

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

140

Table 6: Continued

Measure

278-279,284 286

288

292-293

295-300

332-343

344-345

362-367

368-375

376-378

380-391

396-403

424-425

428-429

450-453

458-461

462,464

Doubling

, xylo

xylo

xylo

pice

hrp

hm/vc

picc/fVcl

fl,pic(371-375) xylo( 369,373, 375),hrp(372-375)

full orch

hrn/tmp/hrp/ strgs

strgs

hrp G.h.)

hrp G.h.)

strgs

hrp

Octave usage

d/n alt with singlf

d/n alt

s/n 15va apart

s/n 8va apart

Pianistic effects

gliss(bl/wht)

6 gliss

gliss

gliss

gliss

Percussive effects

sff

Pedal usage

l.v.

l.v.

l.v.

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X


141

Table 7: Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra

Measure

I. Marche

3-4

7-12,14-24, 27-39

27-28

36

41-42

Doubling

fl,vn ob/cl(par)

tba/vl/vla/ vc/db/b.d.

fl/ob/tbn/vn

fl/hm

tba/vl/vla/ vc/db/b.d.

Octave usage

s/n 8va apart

l.h.

r.h.chordal

l.h.

Pianistic effects

alt hands

Percussive effects

mareato

Pedal usage

Solo passagework

41 fl(r.h.)

Total measures with piano: Total measures of movement:

34 42

II. Valse (tacet)

III. Polka (tacet)

IV. Galop

3

4

5-20

20-21

22-24,26-32

33-34

35-36,43-44

37-38

40-42

45-48

52-64,69-72, 77-80

hm/tbn/tba/ s.dyvla/vc/db

cl/tpt/tbn/ (beat 1), b.d.(beat 2)

tpt/tbn(r.h. 8vaT),tba/vc/ dbO.h.)

pic/fl

pic/fl/ob/vn

full orch

tpt/tbn/vn

ob/tbn/vn tpt(var)

b.dyvc/db hm/tbn(var)

fl/vn/vla

r.h.(13-20)

gliss

3/n 8va

alt hands

s/n 8va

l.h.

s/n 8va

sfff

beat 2: cluster on lowest 3 notes

X(accom)

Ped.

81-122: repeat of 1-44

Total measures with piano: Total measures of movement:

102 122

Table 8: Concerto for Piano and Winds

142

Measure

33-47

49-54

55-58

59-63

64-68

69-86

87-92

93-95

96-103

104-109

110-115

116-119

120-123

125-141

142-162

163-177

192-232

233-238

239-251

252-260

Doubling

tutti orch (partial)

counterpoint w/ob,clt

fl/clt(par) bsn/cbsn/ tba/timp/ cbOh par)

pic/fl/ob/ cl/hm/(par)

hrn(84-86)

ob,cl(var)

tpt(99,8vaT) tbn(96-98)

ob/clt'bsn (par)

pic/fl/tpt

cl(123)

fl/ob/cl(130-131)

pic(150) fl/ob/cl(148-150,var)

db(168-172) bsn(172-177, var)

Octave usage

both hands, r.h. chordal

s/n& 3/n 8 or 15va apart

s/n,3/n & d/n(61-63 scalar run)

d/n partial

l.h.84-86

l.h.

l.h.

d/n(par)

r.h.chord-al(128-13i;

l.h.

Pianistic effects

106-107 alt hands

alt hands

)

l.h.168-172

Percussive effects

s/(47)

syn accents

syn accents

syn accents

accents

shifting >, meter

marcatissimo, accents

shifting >

shifting >

LITERAL RECAPITULATION OF MEASURES 33-86

LITERAL REPEAT OF MEASURES 96-108

ob/cl/bsn(par) alt hands shifting >,

Pedal usage

l.h. sustained octave

Solo passagework

X(tutti)

X

X

X

X

X(accom)

X

X(accom)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Table 8: Continued

143

Measure

261-282 283-312

313-327

Mvt. II:

328-336

337-344

345-350

354-361

362-370

371-400

412-421

422-425

431-435

Mvt. Ill:

436-450

451-458

459-464

465-490

491-500

506-516

517-524

Doubling

hm(par)fl/ ob/eh/cl(297) tpt(298-299)

tutti orch

e.h.(334) cl(335)

tpt,bsn/hm/ tbn/timp/cb

fl(345-346) ob(345-350)

tbn/tba/timp/ c/b( 354,360, par)

e.h.(var)

tpt/tbn/tba/ timp/cb(par) (var)

ob(var)

cl/bsn/hm (436)

hm(459)

timpG-h.)

Octave Pianistic usage effects

r.h.chordal alt hands

l.h.313-317 s/n 318-323 d/n 324-327

l.h.chordal

d/n chordal

r.h.chordal

lh354-355, 360-361

broken

l.h.

r.h.

l.h.

lh436-444

l.h. runs

l.h.

r.h.chordal

cl(506,514,var) 3/n alt hrn(508,516)

cbG.h.) fl/cl(520,524, var)e.h.(523-524)ob(524)

hands(507, 515)

l.h.

alt hands


shift meter

accents, low thick chords

accents

accents, s/ l.v.

accents

shifting >

shifting >

shifting >, sempre sf

Solo passagework

X(cdnza) X

X(accom)

XGyric)

X(accom)

XGyric)

X(cdnza)

XGyric)

X( accom)

X(cdnza)

XGyric)

XGyric)

X

X

X(accom)

X(accom)

X

X ^v

X

Table 8: Continued

144

Measure Doubling

525-537 538-548

549-551

Octave usage

r.h.chordal

3/n alt hands

Pianistic effects

Percussive effects

alt hands on repeated notes

552-554

555-561

562-566

567-578

579-594

595-602

603-614

615-630

631-636

640-646

657-664

tba(8vaT)

db

tutti orch

fl/ob/e.h./ cl(623-625) cbG.h.) tutti(628-630)

db

tpt/tbn/tba

tutti, on second part of each beat

r.h. run

l.h.tenths

lh577-578

l.h.

r.h.chordal l.h.(par)

l.h. a

r.h.chordal

both hands

d/n, min 6th apart

alt hands

syn accents sf, hemiola

tres court

shifting >

shifting >

shifting meter

Pedal usage

l.v.

l.v.(605)

l.v.

m,arcatissim,o

Solo passagework

X X(accom)

X(accom)

X

X

X

X

X(accom)

X(accom)

X

X

X

X

Total measures with piano: Total measures of work:

592 664

145

Table 9: Oedipus Rex

Measure

12-20, 23-31, 100-111

112-116

123-128

132-134

135

141-142

145-150

150-154

159-161

162

162-165

204-211

219-221

222-227

228-231

334-340

444-452

492-494, 503-505, 513-515, 521-524

495-502, 506-512, 516-520

ACT II:

531-532

656

677-688

Doubling

timp/hrp (8vai)

tpt/tbn/r/B

wnds/brs

timp/stmgs

timp, tutti

pclt(r.h.) tbn (l.h.) Creon(var)

Creon/vc/db

hrp,hm

pclt/clt

timp

hrp,vln

bsn

fl/ob/e.h./ hm(r.h.) tpt/tbnG.h.)

bsn

timp/hrp (8va>L)

hrp(r.h.) tbn/cbG.h.)

fl/ob/hm/ tpt/voices

timp

hrp(var)

hrp(var)

timp/hrp/vc/ cb(pizz)

Octave ] usage (

s/n brken

both hands

s/n broken

both hands

3/n broken

both hands

s/n 22va apart

l.h.

l.h.

3/n

l.h.

r.h.chordal

Pianistic affects

alt hands


s/n brken

both hands

both hands

arpeggio

arpeggio

Percussive effects

ma mareato

sf

offbeats

sf

accents

sff

lowest register

low,thick repeated chord

Pedal usage

l.v.,Ped.

Ped.

Ped.

Ped.

l.v. Ped.

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X(accom)

X(accom)

146

Table 9: Continued

Measure

759-771

980-983

1214-1222

1235-1240

Doubling

timp/hrp/db vc(diff rthm)

fl/cl/hm/tpt/ strings(pizz)

bsn/vc/db(var) timp/tba(var)

bsn/vc/db timp/tba



both hands

3/n & 2/n

3/n & 2/n

132 1268


low, thick repeated chord

accented ped.

s/,ostinato

ostinato

Solo passagework

Table 10: Quatre Etudes pour Orchestra

147

Measure

I. Danse:

4-45

Doubling

vla/vc(var)

II. Excentrique:

16

18

21

24

27-30

31-32

34

35-36

37-51

52-54

70-71

III. Cantiqu

TACET

rv. Madrid

25

27-51

33-34

52-53

53-54

55

56-61

64

66-67

70-71

hrn(var)

vc

hm(var)

hm(var)

h m

vn

bclfcb

stngs(octave displacement)

fl/vc(53)

hrn/stngs(var)

e:

bsn

timp/stngs (var)

fl(var,r.h.)

bsn/tpt/tbn

vc/db

ob/hm/stngs

vn I(var)

hm/tpt

hrn/tpt/tbn

hrn

Octave usage

l.h.chorda

Pianistic effects

glissando

glissando

r.h. white l.h. black

glissando

glissando

1

both hands chordal

both hands chordal

both hands chordal

Percussive effects

ostinato

poco sf on single note

sff

ostinato

ostinato

mareato

sff sub.

Pedal usage

Ped.

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Table 10: Continued

148

Measure

73

Doubling Octave Pianistic usage effects

both hands chordal

Percussive effects

Pedal usage

Solo passagework

X

76 fl/vn(var) glissando

77-78 hm(var)

82-87

88-91

95-98

99-113

113

stngs(rhy)

vc/db(var)

timp/stngs

both hands chordal

l.h.

ostinato

ostinato

ostinato l.v.

X

X(accom)

X(accom)

X


145 280

Table 11: Capriccio

149

Measure

1-4,10-13

4,13

19-22

26-31

32-39

40-46

47-80

81-88

89-102

103-105

106-115

116-121

122-124

125-131

132-134

135-147

136,138

148-163

165-168, 175-176

168-174, 179-192

177

Mvt. II:

195-196

200-201

202

203

204-210

Doubling

brs/timp/ con stngs

tutti orch

timp

fl(var),db

Octave usage

Pianistic effects

both hands trill

d/n &8/n

d/n &s/n

d/n

timp/vc/db(var)

rip vn/vla (var)

3/n repeated

timp/vc/db(var)

clt/con vn(var) broken

bsn/tpt/tba/ timp/con stgs

tutti orch

d/n & s/n

r.h.run

s/n broken repeated notes

alt hands

alt hands

chrom runs

alt hands

l.h. arp

alt s/n

alt hands

alt hands

alt hands

alt hands

both hands trill

s/n 15va apart

d/n

l.h.

trill

scalar

alt hands

triKr.h.)

alt hands


ostinato: ben mxircato

ostinato

marc. >

ostinato

ostinato

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X( accom)

X(accom)

X

X

X

X

repeated notes

Table 11: Continued

150

Measure

211-213

214-220

222-249

253-254

258-263

268-277

278-279

Mvt. Ill:

281-290

292-298

298-300

301-321

322-330

331-367

368-372

373-386

387-412

413-424

425-426

427-430

431-433

434-440

441-443

447-451

451-460

461-484

485-492

493-498

Doubling

con vc

pic/con vn/ vla( 305-307)

con vn(var)

con vc(var)

hm/stngs

ob/clt/bsn/ stngs

tutti(var)

fl/cl/bsn

Octave usage

d/n,l.h.

s/n 8va

3/n

d/n run

r.h.

d/n runs, r.h.chordal

r.h.runs, broken

Pianistic effects

arpeggios

trill,arp

alt hands,trill

alt hands,trill

scalar

alt hands

alt hands s/n repeated

arpeggios

l.h.arpeggios

d/n chordal

alt hands

both hands

both hands

both hands

l.h.

s/n 8va

trem on repeated note

double notes

Percussive effects

Pedal usage

shifting >

l.v.

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X(cdnza)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

151

Table 11: Continued

Measure

499-518

525-527

Doubling

tutti orch

Total measures with piano: Total measure of work:

Octave usage

3/n

Pianistic effects

alt hands

485 527

Percussive effects

Pedal usage

Solo passagework

X

X

152

Table 12: Symphony of Psalms

Measure

1,4,8,14

Doubling Octave usage

Pianistic effects

Percussive Pedal Solo effects usage passagework

fl/pic/ob/ both hands spacing of e.hTbsn/ (tenths) chord based cbsn/tbn/timp/ on extended bd/hrp/vc/db hand position

12-13

15-25

47(P.I)

48,52

49-52

65-67

72-78

Mvt. II:

TACET

Mvt. Ill:

4-6

7-8, 21-22

14-19

35

38-39

40-43(P.I)

44-45(P.I)

40-45(P.II)

46-47

48-51

53-60

61-64

fl

as in ms. 1

fl/bsn(P.II) hrp(P.I)

fl/pic(P.I) bsn(P.II)

fVob/cbsn/ vc/db(P.II) ob/bsn(P.I)

timp/hrp

fl/ob/e.h./ cbsn/tpt/tbn

hrp/vc/db

tbn

fl/ob(var)

pic/fl/tpt

vc/db

fl/ob/hm

tutti orch

bsn

s/n 15va apart

s/n 15va apart

as in ms.l

s/n 15va apart(P.I)

d/n (P.I) s/n 15va apart(P.II)

s/n 15va apart(P.I) d/n (P.II)

l.h.

l.h., r.h. tenth

s/n 8va, 5 oct. span P.I & II

l.h.

scalar

as in ms. 1


s/n

s/n

l.h.

alt hands

s/n alt hands

P.II secco P.II u.c.

marcatissim.o

accents

poco sf sempre

l.v.(tres

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

sonore)

Table 12: Continued

153

Measure

65-71

87-98

Doubling

hrp/cb

fl/ob/tpt

109-112(P.II) hrp(rhy)

112-114(P.I) pic/fl

121

124-125

126-129

130-131

132-137

138-141

142-150

163-205

210-212

tbn

fl/oKP.I) timp/vc/db(II)

fl/tpt(P.I) hrp/vc/db(II)

hm/hrp/vc/db

fl/ob/tpt/vc(I) tbn/db(II)

cbsn/db

timp/hrp

fl/ob/e.h./ cbsn/tpt/tbn



l.h.

l.h.

both hands chordal

l.h.


s/n 15va l.h.(II) glissando

both hands

s/n 15va l.h. glissando

r.h.broken

s/n 8va

l.h., r.h. tenth

164 378

Percussive effects

sf sempre

accents

poco sf sempre

brillante marc.

Pedal usage

l.v.

pedale de gauche

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

Table 13: Persephone

154

Measure

1-14

58-66

72-85

95-104, 117-126

185-187

189

205

211

213

217

221

226

240-241

245-255, 273-275

284-285

285-292

303-306, 352-355

328-341

380-406

554

556-560

561-565

645-660

661

737,740

743-751,

Doubling

hrp

pic(r.h.) obO.h.)

hm(r.h.) dbG.h.)

timp/hm(l.h.) vla/vc/db(r.h.)

vc/db

timp(var)

timp(var)

vn Il(var)

timp(var)

bsn(var)

bsn

pic/fl/ob/ hrn/hrp

hrp

pic/fl/hrn

vc/db

db

hrp

hm/chor/ stngs

fl/ob/e.h.

tbn/tba

hrp

clt/bclt

pic/fl/clty hrn/tpt

fl/bsn/hm/

Octave usage

3/n w/re-peat note

s/n 15va

l.h.

l.h.

3/n w/re-peat note

lh& 3/n

l.h.

3/n

3/n

l.h.

l.h.

s/n 15va

Pianistic effects

alt hand trem

alt hand

2 glissandi

alt hands

s/n scalar

both hands

l.h.

l.h.

3/n 8va

white scales

both hands

Percussive effects

sffz, >

sf

poco sfz

accents

stacc runs


Ped.

X

X

X

X

X

una corda X

l.v.

Ped., l.v. X

Ped. e Sord.

X

Ped.gauche X (659)

X

Ped

Table 13: Continued

155

Measure

784-796

798-801

Doubling

tpt/hrp/stngs

Octave usage

Pianistic effects

Percussive effects


Ped, l.v. X

866-869 tpt/hrp(var)

877-887 bsn/timp/hrp s/n vc/db(var) w/triplet

l.v., una corda


202 1053

156

Table 14: Scherzo a la Russe (Symphonic Version)

Ik M

Measure

1-20

21-23

23

24-25

26-37

33,37

39-56

59-61

62-81

82-84

84

85-86

87-98

33,37

99-102, 107-108, 109-114

103-106

115,117, 120

121-122

123-136

138-144 150-156

145-149

157-161

162-198:

Doubling

b.d.

tba/perc

xylo

b.d.

bsn/tba/perc

xylo

hrp( canon)

fl

b.d.

tba/perc

xylo

b.d.

bsn/tba/perc

xylo

hrp

pic/fl/tpt

vla/vc/db

pic/fl/ob/ clt/bsn/hm/ hrp

tutti orch

hrp

pic/fl/tpt

tutti orch

Octave usage

l.h.tenth

3/n

s/n 15va

l.h.tenth

3/n

r.h.

d/n sus.

d/n & 3/n

r.h.

l.h.

Pianistic effects

glissando

glissando

glissando

glissando

alt hands w/ repeat note

alt hands w/ repeat note

Repeat of Opening Scherzo, ms. 1-37


190 198


low,stacc repeated notes

same as above

same as 1-20

same as above

loWjStacc repeated notes

same as above

same as 1-20

same as above

offbeat sff

l.v.

Solo passagework

X

X

XGyric)

XGyric)

X

X

X

X

Table 15: Scenes de Ballet

157

Measure

1-3. 8-10

145

146-149

153-156

157-160

161-166 171-174

175

176-179

180-181

199-206

264-271

272-282

309-312

328-333

408-413

429-440

Doubling

pic/fl/ob/ cl/hm/tpt/ tbn/stngs

ob/cl(rhy)

ob/cl(rhy)

fl/cl/hm/ vn(var)

fl/ob/cl

pi c( part)

bsn/vc(var)

tutti orch

vc/db

tutti orch


Octave usage

r.h. G.h.9th)

s/n 8va

l.h.chordal r.h.chordal tenth

d/n & 3/n

tenths in both hands

Pianistic effects

arpeggio

arp. runs

arp.runs

arp.chord

arp. run

87 440

Percussive effects

sf

sf

repeated chords for rhythm

poco sf

Pedal usage

l.v.

right and left pedal

right and left pedal

Ped., l.v.

left pedal

left pedal

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

Table 16: Symphony in Three Movements

158

Measure

1,8,10,11

2-3.9,11-12

14-19

32-53

54-62

63-77

78-80

109-123

150-162

165-169

173-185

204-206, 209-211, 216-218

229-230, 236-237

262-264

267-270

278-288

289-299

300-304

307-334

335-356

361-363

368-384

385

386-395

396,407

Doubling

bclt/bsn/cbsn/ stngs

hm/stngs

tutti wnds/ brss/vc/db

vn/vla(part)

bclt/bsn/stngs (var),tba(par)

bclt/bsn/cbsn/ vc/db

bsn/tbn/tba

vc

tutti orch

bcltd.h.)

vn/vla(part)

fl/ob/clt/ hrn/vn/vla

fl/vn/vla

tim/vc/db(var)

bclt/bsn/cbsn/ stngs

Octave usage

l.h.

d/n

both hands r.h.chordal

both hands

Pianistic effects

glissando

alt hands chordal

both hands alt hands, r.h. partial scalar

s/n & 3/n

l.h.,3/n

chordal

r.h.(part)

chordal

r.h.chordal

alt hands

contrapuntal

contrapuntal

contrapuntal

contrapuntal

alt hands

contrapuntal

alt hand/2nds

alt hand runs

alt hand runs

alt hand chrdal

contrapuntal


l.h. glissando

Percussive effects

accents

marcatissimo

sfff, Aon every note

shifting accents

shifting accents

Pedal usage

l.v.(57,59)

Ped.,l.v.

una corda

repeating chords Ped.

l.h. offbeats

ostinato

marc.

marc.

accented

una corda

una corda

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

397-399, hm/stngs d/n accents

Table 16: Continued

159

Measure

408-410

Mvt. II:

TACET

Mvt III:

543-547, 551-554 562-569

559

585-586

587-591

592-597

601

619-626

627-629

640-646

657-665

665-683

688-695

709-710

720

722-725

730-738

740-745

746-747

Doubling

fl/ob/cl/hm/ timp/hrp/stng (var)

hrp/stngs(var)

fVob/cl/hm/ vn Il/vc/db

soli vn/vla/vc

hrn(var)

tutti orch

hrn(var)

pic/fl/ob/clt/ hrn/tpt/timp/ hrp/stngs

tbn(canon)

pic/fl/ob/clt/ h m

timp/bd/hrp/ stngs

pic/fl/ob/clt/ hm/ tp t

pic/fl/ob/clt/ hm/hrp/stngs

bsn/vla/vc/db

tutti orch



both hands rh chordal


arpeggios

l.h.

glissando

glissando

s/n 8va

d/n chdl

3/n 8va chordal

3/n alt hands

both hands ninths

both hands chordal

d/n & 3/n alt hands

l.h. r.h. chordal tenth

340 747

Percussive effects

sempre stacc. marc.

ben marc.

accents

Pedal usage

una corda

una corda

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

160

Table 17: Greeting Prelude for Orchestra

Measure

1,4

2-3,5-6

6-10

22,25

23-24,26-27

27-32

32

Doubling

timp/b.dytbn/ tba

tbn /hm

fl/ob/clt

timp/b.dVtbn/ tba

tbn/hrn

pic/fl/ob/clt

tutti orch


Octave usage

l.h. has 1 octave

octave displaced

3/n

l.h. has 1 cx:tave

octave displaced

3/n

both hands rh adds lower 9th

Pianistic effects

alt hands

alt hands

alt hands

alt hands

21 32

Percussive effects

accents

accents

Pedal usage

Solo passagework

161

Table 18: Agon

Measure

1-3

10-13, 23-25

166-167

171-178

182-183

191-206

208-227

244-247

253

352-354

356

358

360-361

362-364

464-471, 485-490

496-497

500-501

512-515

560-563

570-573, 583-585

620

Octave Doubling usage

hrp/stngs(piz)

cb

timp ,hrp( 172-178)fl.III (var.177-178)

tbn(rhy.canon)

tbn(rhy.canon)

hrp

vc

fl

cl/fl(par)

fl(par)

stngs(par)

fl/cl, stngs(par)

hrn(canon)

hm/tpt/tbn/ tmtm/timp/ stngs(part)

hrp/stngs

cb

tutti orch on final chord

Pianistic effects

Percussive effects

secco sf

Pedal usage

l.v.

Solo passagework

X(cptl)

piano sustains

sernpre una corda f X

sempre sec-co(una corda sf

X

X

X

X

X

ben mareato

accents

l.v., Ped.

secco sf

X

X

Total measures with piamo: Total measures of work:

100 620

162

Table 19: Threni: Id Est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae

Measure

35,37-41

69,71

73-75

82-87, 135-141

218,221-223, 226-228

243-245

310-311,314, 318-319

385

391

399

403


sarrus

cb(74-75)

sarrus

timp/basso II

hrp/timp/vc/db 3/n

coro/hrp/timp/ db

ob/e.h.

ob/hm

hrp

Pianistic effects

all'estinzione (to inaudible)

Percussive effects

secco

Pedal usage

una corda, l.ped. f

una corda, l.ped. f

left ped.

2 Ped.

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

Total measures with piano: Total measures in work:

43 419

Table 20: Movements for Piano and Orchestra

163

Measure

1-14

18-26

27-30

31-39

42

Mvt. II:

46-50

51-67

Mvt. Ill:

74-78

83-84

86-87

89

Mvt. IV:

100-105

108-109

113-119

121-122

127-135

141-144

147-168

171-173

180-183

192-193

Doubling

fl/tpt/vn(l) tpt(3)

vla/vc(19-21, par)vc(23-26)

db(46)

solo vla/vc (par)

ob(dovetail)

db(168)

vc(173)

hrp/cel


Octave usage

r.h.(l-brkn'

Pianistic Percussive effects effects

alt hands

repeated note tremolo

)

132 193

Pedal usage

Pedum Ped

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

164

Table 21: A Sermon, a Narrative, and a Prayer

Measure

I. Sermon

TACET

II. Narrative

143-147

153-154

156-161

164-165

165-167

179-182

208

211-215

III. A Prayer

231-234, 244-246, 249-275

Doubling

bclt(159-161)

stngs

fl

hrp/db

Octave usage

Pianistic effects

alt hands

alt hands

s/n alt hand trem

Percussive effects

Pedal usage

una corda

Solo passagework

X(accom)

X

X

X(accom)

X

X


60 275

Table 22: The Flood

165

Measure

1

4-5

61

62,63

64

65

69

150-151

181-215,217-221,224-233, 235-246

250-251

255-258

274-276

299-300

302

307

319-321

324

327

349

357-358

399

402-452

455

458-464, 466-475

486-489

490

494-495

Doubling

fl/cbsn/hrp

hrp(par)

hrp

bclt/tba/hrp

cbsn/hrp

bclt/tba/hrp

fl/tpt

• SoloBassI, , hrp/SoloBassII

(var)

fl/marib/xylo

tpt(var)

fl(var)

hrp(par)

vc

hrp

marib(dvtl)

pic/fl(var)

hrp(rhy)

pic/fl(var)

SoloBassI, hrp/SoloBassII

fl

fl/cbsn/hrp

timp/hrp


Octave usage

dimSth both har

Pianistic effects

ids

149 582

Percussive effects

Pedal usage

2 Ped.

u.c. & Ped, ff

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

166

Table 23: Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam

Measure

1

6-9

15-17

73,79,84

85

103

111

130

131

134

136


tpt/tbn

hrp/stngs(par)

fl(dvtl)

ob/hm

cl/fl

hrp(var)


Pianistic effects

18 141

Percussive effects

Pedal usage

Ped

Solo passagework

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

167

Table 24: Canon for Concert Introduction or Encore

Octave Pianistic Percussive Pedal Solo Measure Doubling usage effects effects usage passagework

1,3,18,20 tutti orch both hands chordal

5-17,22-34 cl/hrp/vn/vla both hands (r.h.)bsn/cbsn/ tbn/tba/vc/db a.h.)

35 tutti orch both hands chordal


168

Table 25: Requiem Canticles

Measure Doubling

81-82,85-86,87

88-90

94,96-97

289,294, 299,304-305

timp/stngs (par)

timp/stngs (par)

pic/fl/hm

Octave usage

Pianistic effects

alt hands

sustained chords

Percussive effects

Pedal usage

Solo passagework


16 350

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