Group 6 Project: Igor Stravinsky
The Background of Stravinsky
Stravinsky was born on June 17th in 1882. His father was a bassist and his mother was a pianist. Growing up in the heart of Russia in St. Petersburg, Stravinsky found himself heavily influenced by Russian nationalism and Russian peasant songs during his vacations to the countryside. Despite Stravinsky’s parents’ own musical prowess, they did not want their son to become a musician. Stravinsky took piano lessons as a child, but his parents encouraged him to attend law school. It was on his own at university that Stravinsky began to embrace his musical capabilities.
Stravinsky’s friendship with Vladimir Rimsky-Korsakov was a turning point because Rimsky-Korsakov happened to be the son of a famous composer. This relationship gave Stravinsky the opportunity to present his compositions with the composer who gave him private lessons in harmony and counterpoint. When Stravinsky’s father died in 1902, he became financially independent and established relationships with Claude Debussy, Cesar Franck, Emmanuel Chabrier and Paul Dukas. Despite his musical passion, Stravinsky still complete his law degree in 1905. After that year, he married his cousin, Catherine Nossenko and they had four children.
Stravinsky was discovered in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev, the director of the itinerant ballet company, Ballet Russes. He was particularily impressed by the compositions Scherzo Fantastique and Fireworks. This was another important friendship in Stravinsky’s life as Diaghilev would remain his friend and impresario for decades.
The History of Petrushka
Stravinsky began composing this masterpiece between August of 1910 and May 1911. It was not long before Petrushka had its first performance by Sergei Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet. Petrushka already had a strong start in the music world beause of Stravinski’s famous breakout piece “The Firebird”. Stravinski was already well known in both the compositional and ballet worlds. Originally, Stravinski envisioned Petrushka as a symphony. However, Diaghilev, who had hired Stravinski when he was young and unknown, believed the piece was better suited to be written as a dance. Stravinski took Diaghilev’s advice to heart and later that year Stravinski composed what would become the second scene of Petrushka. This ballet soon became four different scenes choreographed by Michel Fokine. In the midst of composing, Stravinski envisioned the story of a puppet coming to life. This idea led to the piece receiving its name after the famous Russian puppet character, Petrushka.The composition of this ballet was so complex many dancers and orchestral muscians struggled with rehearsals.
The Elements of Petrushka
Petrushka consists of a orchestra with four flutes, two piccolos, four oboes, an English horn, four clarinets, a bass clarinet, four bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, a tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbal, bass drum, tambourine, side drum, tam-tam, xylophone, celesta, two harps, piano and strings.
The story of Petrushka is set in St. Petersburg in the 1830s. Petrushka is centered around three characters, Petrushka, Ballerina, and Moor. Petrushka falls in love with Ballerina, who rejects him because of his appearance. Petrushka is eventually killed by Moor.
The first tableau, The Crowd Revels at the Shrovetide Fair, is set at a fair where a showman brings his puppets to life and they dance for a crowd. The first tableau opens with a pentatonic flute melody and moves at a vivace tempo. The dynamic is set at mezzo forte. Then the full orchestra joins with a homophonic texture and a rondo form. The second part is known as The Arrival of the Showman. This is where Petrushka finds himself in his room experiencing human emotions. He dances for Ballerina, but she does not return his affections. This piece is set in the through composed form and has a extended flute cadenza that brings the puppets to life. Chromatics create a mysterious mood and fermatas flow in and out of the melody.
The third part portrays a waltz between Ballerina and Moor. Ballerina finds herself attracted to Moor’s good looks. It moves at an allegro tempo and is set in the rondo form. A sassy tune on a trumpet is played out at the mezzo forte dynamic. Petrushka sees this and charges Moor, who quickly overpowers him. The final tableau returns to the carnival. The woodwinds strike out notes rapidly as a confrontation unfolds. There are two themes riveting against each other. One features a full orchestra, piano, xylophone while the other holds fragments of oboe, strings, piano. Moor, still in pursuit of Petrushka, unleashes his sword and slays him with a single strike. A ghost emerges from Petrushka’s corpse and lingers about the stage in anger. There is a decrescendo and the dynamic fades to pianissimo. The piece ends suddenly with the notes of a trumpet ringing out.
Piano Vs. Orchestra
The piano version of Petrushka brings in a more complex texture as a way to compensate for the lack of an orchestra. The texture of the piano version feels thinner without the diversity in instruments. The orchestra strengthens the emotions Petrushka feels for Ballerina and Moor. The tinkling triangle in the background of the orchestra illustrates the magic of puppets coming to life. While the piano can generate the same high notes, it cannot recreate the magic of the triangle. The orchestra starts out with a stronger dynamic than the piano version. The piano version starts off at mezzo piano while the orchestra version starts at mezzo forte. The woodwinds miss their solos in the piano version. The crescendos are more prominent in the orchestra version because multiple instruments can join in order to increase the dynamic from mezzo forte to fortissimo. Percussions that provided a steady beat in the background for the orchestra version are not longer present in the piano version and their absence is blatant. It is obvious when Petrushka is transcribed for the orchestra it reaches its full potential. The piano version pales in comparison to the raw power generated by a full orchestra.
