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Stravinsky’s Music Throughout his career, Stravinsky’s Russian heritage and native folk music were of special importance in his work. Ironically, he spent most of his life living outside of Russia. As Stravinsky’s exposure to the West increased, he became interested in combining his native Russian traditions and musical ideas with that of a larger global culture. Stravinsky’s music can be broken down into three musical periods or styles: Russian (1908 – 1919) It was during this time period that Stravinsky established his reputation as a musical rebel! He was cutting edge as a composer meaning he was exploring styles of music that other musicians were just thinking about. During these years Stravinsky used Russian folk themes and motifs. Much of his music was influenced by his late teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov who was famous for his work with folk tales and fairy tales. Stravinsky reached international fame by composing music for three ballets: The Firebird, Petrouchka and Le Sacre du printemps. These pieces were commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballet Russes. The ballets were characterized by their highly rhythmic and percussive qualities, and in the latter works Stravinsky also began to explore bitonality* and polyphony*. The final years of the Russian period were dominated by the fusion of Russian folk idioms with more popular western dance music like jazz and ragtime. The Nightingale (1914) and The Fox (1916) were also composed in this time period. *Bitonality: The use of two musical keys at the same time. Polyphony: The simultaneous use of two or more keys. Neo-classical (1920 – 1954) When Stravinsky moved to France, he incorporated his early trademark compositional techniques with a popular style emerging in music composition called neo-classicism. As an anti-Romantic movement, neo-classicism, favoured the return of a more emotionally strained and balanced music of the baroque and classical periods. (Don’t be fooled though – Stravinsky’s music still didn’t sound anything like Mozart’s!) The most significant change in Stravinsky’s music was his abandonment of the large orchestras demanded by his previous ballets, for choral and chamber compositions using mainly wind instruments and piano. Stravinsky’s neo-classicism culminated with the opera The Rake’s Progress (1951). Twelve Tone Serialism (1954 – 1968) After World War II composers explored a new avant-garde musical reform, called twelve tone serialism. It was led by Viennese composers Arnold Schoenburg, Alban Berg and Anton von Webern. This modern compositional technique used all 12 tones in an octave in different arrangements and patterns. By using all 12 tones, the song is not in a specific key and is considered atonal. Often this sounds ‘funny’ or ‘off’ to an ear that has not heard this style before. Stravinsky’s Musical Checklist: Clear Sound Percussive Energetic rhythm Russian folk stories used as themes Transparent texture: A full orchestra but not all the instruments play at the same time Did you know? Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps was featured in Disney’s animated feature Fantasia. Canadian Opera Company ~ Education and Outreach ~ Nightingale Study Guide 2009/2010 ~ coc.ca ~ 416-306-2392