STRAVINSKY AND TAN DUN
David Andrews
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
By Paula Maust
Igor Stravinsky
Born June 17 , 1882 in Oranienbaum , Russia Died April 6 , 1971 in New York , New York
FIREWORKS [ 1908 ]
Igor Stravinsky was on the cusp of launching his successful compositional career in 1908 when he wrote Fireworks as a wedding gift for Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova and Maximilian Steinberg . At the time , both Steinberg and Stravinsky were students of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov , Nadezhda ’ s father . Although Stravinsky ’ s relationship with Steinberg would ultimately become fraught , the groom graciously accepted Fireworks , writing “ I like it very much … it ’ s brilliantly scored , if it only proves playable , for it is incredibly difficult .” Stravinsky ’ s unique compositional style and impressive orchestration in Fireworks paid off the next year , when the influential impresario Sergei Diaghilev attended the work ’ s public premiere . He was so impressed with Stravinsky ’ s ability to create “ witty hints at the reproduction of a sensational explosion of fireworks ” that he commissioned the young composer to write The Firebird , a full-length ballet .
In a piece lasting less than five minutes , Stravinsky takes full advantage of nearly every instrumental timbre available at the time . A full complement of woodwinds , brass , strings , celesta , two harps , and an impressive percussion section recreate the sonic experience of a fireworks display . The piece opens with a sense of energetic anticipation , which is then punctuated with an explosive boom as the imaginary firework goes off . The sound then fades away , just like the lights of a firework slowly shimmering across the night sky . This constant ebb and flow builds to a crashing finish .
Instrumentation Three flutes , two oboes , three clarinets , two bassoons , six horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , timpani , bass drum , cymbals ( pair ), glockenspiel , triangle , two harps , celeste , and strings .
SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE
[ 1917 ]
Igor Stravinsky ’ s first opera The Nightingale ( 1914 ) is based on Hans Christian Andersen ’ s 1843 fairy tale of the same name . Across three acts , the Fisherman tells the story of a friendship between an ancient Chinese Emperor and a nightingale whose song is more beautiful than anything in the world . So impressed is the Emperor with the bird that he makes it an official court guest . However , after the Emperor is gifted an ornate mechanical singing nightingale , the real nightingale dejectedly flees the palace and returns to its friend , the Fisherman . Years later , when the Emperor is on his deathbed , the real nightingale reappears to sing , restoring the Emperor ’ s health . The nightingale declines the Emperor ’ s invitation to return permanently to the palace , but it does agree to come occasionally to sing and describe everything it has seen in the kingdom .
Three years after completing the opera , Stravinsky adapted selections from it into The Song of the Nightingale , a symphonic poem in four movements that would later be choreographed Léonide Massine and then later by George Balanchine . The work was premiered in Geneva in 1919 , where it was heavily criticized for its unconventional uses of dissonance and timbres . A grand scene is portrayed at the opening , as the Emperor sits in his splendid palace receiving guests from distant lands . Across the piece , Stravinsky
24 OVERTURE / BSOmusic . org