Stravinsky's "Pulcinella" - The original music

This video compiles all the music used by Igor Stravinsky as the basis of his ballet "Pulcinella" (1920). It's mainly Italian Baroque music, coming from such sources as operas by Pergolesi, trio sonatas by Gallo and harpsichord suites by Monza; but Stravinsky unknowingly used music by a non-Italian composer (Wassenaer, a Dutchman) and even by a 19th-century Romantic composer, Parisotti.
Have fun!

[@supernova1969]

I was looking for the original music since 1981. Thanks for uploading. It is insufficient to say Thanks.

[@dstumpf1]

Kind of shocking how little Stravinsky did to some of these pieces, esp the Gallo trio sonata movements. He really should have listed himself as the arranger or orchestrator!

[@MuseDuCafe]

D Stumpf Diaghilev expected, really, nothing more than 'stylish arrangements,' and was shocked at how far Stravinsky had re-worked the material. I think the Stravinsky is remarkable in both how INTACT they sound while sounding very freshly turned.

[@adrianosbrandao]

Hi! There are three main sources: Parnassi Music for the Gallo (CPO), Combattimento Consort for the Wassenaer (NM Classics) and Terence Charlston for the Monza (Deux-Elles). The Pergolesi opera excerpts were all taken from Italian videos I found on KZbin (from the top of my mind: "Il flaminio" conducted by Ottavio Dantone and "Lo frate 'nnamorato" conducted by Riccardo Muti).

[@anuteamsterium]

Thank you for this brilliant piece of detective work. I've always considered this music in its transformed state to be pure magic. Turns out, so are the original source materials. Stravinsky's genius becomes more apparent, melding these diverse pieces into a work of pure charm and wit. The world would be a much poorer place had Igor not resuscitated (and breathed new life) into these long forgotten works.

[@hankmendoza6849]

I have loved this music, and always thought it was a bit different than what Stravinsky wrote. Nevertheless, he adapted to a wonderful, intricate, sweet piece of music. Thank you for revealing the sources!

[@MuseDuCafe]

I'm still of a mind that I.S. absolutely "bettered" all of this music in his Pulcinella. But this is terrific, of real interest, and a labor... for which you are thanked.

[@Mercer1012]

MuseDuCafe I disagree with you, I think Stravinsky ruined the balance of this music, he added far too many inner harmonies on the formulas used in these Galant/Baroque era pieces and destroyed the balance that was the main goal of these songs. Also he used too many instruments that were absent here for a purpose. This sort of music was not about WHAT you said but rather HOW you said it. This demanded precision and simplicity in order to hear the subtle differences, listen to how easily recognizable the "Prinner" formula at 10:39 is in this version, vs Stravinsky's convoluted mishmash of thick harmonies. This was meant to be judged by a courtly society on how tasteful - or not - this particular presentation of this particular formula was.

[@MuseDuCafe]

La Tempesta You are maybe one of those who is horrified anyone would alter the originals in any way? Perhaps, too, less than happy to hear this music on anything but period instruments.... Maybe I'm "indiscriminate," but I very much like both: the originals (with the period instruments, TYVM!) -- and what Stravinsky made of them. But some are more 'sentimental tourists' and like their old music always sounding 'from that other glorious time more glorious than their present times : - )

[@djmotise]

+La Tempesta wow. you just don't get it. The whole point of the piece was to elaborate upon the originals, and he did so in a masterful way, unopened to criticism.

[@Mercer1012]

darren motise Everything is open to criticism. I understand the point, but I feel he did a poor service to the original music, which was superior in my mind.

[@Mercer1012]

@@MuseDuCafe I dislike all of the thickening of the triads and chords he has done, making them sound unbalanced, bloated, and alien. The only Stravinsky I like at all is Pulcinella because it is based on proper music in my opinion. The rest of Stravinsky's oeuvre sounds so foreign as to be grating to my ear. It is fine that you like both, but I still firmly disagree that be "bettered" the music in any way.

[@ptdive]

Olá Adriano! Stravinsky was able to turn this "shy" Lo frate nnammorato into something magical and magistral, truly neo-classic! Thanks for sharing!

[@bratschekind]

Adriano, thanks so much for putting this together. Fascinating! I've always wished someone would make a CD of the original music but alas I don't think it's ever been done but now thanks to you I can hear it on KZbin. Cheers!

[@adrianosbrandao]

You're welcome :) In Stravinsky's time, these works were all published as if composed by Pergolesi, except the Parisotti. "Si tu m'ami" belongs to a collection of "old songs", from various sources, allegedly only "arranged" by Parisotti. This song in particular was attributed to Pergolesi. But recent studies have concluded that "Si tu m'ami" was most probably written entirely by Parisotti in faux-baroque style. (A PR stunt also used by other composers like Fritz Kreisler and even Berlioz!)

[@GoldinDr]

I've always thought "Se tu m'ami" is too corny to be a true piece from the Baroque. Bartoli sings it nicely in her collection though, and of course she attributes it to Parisotti.

[@robcollis9259]

Wonderful - thank you so much.

[@plonplon243]

Thanks you a lot for this initiative!

[@audelinom]

Thank you so much. Like many here, I had been longing to hear for years the original pieces from where Stravinsky drew his inspiration. This is quite a discovery for me.

[@johnrandolph6121]

Adriano, thank you so much for doing this. I think this is one of the best things I have ever seen on KZbin! Thanks again and greetings from Texas. :)

[@ckb5943]

Pulcinella has always been one of my favorites, and it is fascinating to see that these original pieces are so wonderful that Stravinsky didn't have to do any real composing, and could throw his extraordinary creative mind into choosing and assembling the best set of pieces for a ballet, and tweaking their arrangements to give them a 20th century sound -- leading to his own new post-Sacre/Noces sound.

[@Hajnikovmuz]

Priceless!

[@paulfaulkner8788]

What caused you to research all this? Like Stravinsky, I was perfectly happy to think that it was all Pergolesi. Another illusion shattered.

[@adrianosbrandao]

I love this music and was always so curious about the original sources Stravinsky used, so I managed to do this little research myself :)

[@paulfaulkner8788]

Adriano Brandão Well done! Just goes to show you should not take everything at face value.

[@KenichiNakano]

Nice collection! Thank you!!

[@sajoosen]

Great Andriano. Fantastic job!

[@64carlo]

Dear Adriano, thank you so much! This is an incredible interesting and useful job! All my respect, C+

[@adrianosbrandao]

Thank you! About the book, I'm not that smart :) And, yes, there is music by a Dutch count, van Wassenaer, that was also attributed to Pergolesi (Marriner's recording still bears the name "Pergolesi" on the cover).

[@manikalani8226]

Thanks so much. Very Great. It's wonderful and just not filled with baroque typical content. It's beyond of time and place of its creation.

[@HeiligerSatyr]

Thank you!

[@enzocypriani5055]

Ypu are awesome for doing and posting this

[@matthewdooley1251]

Absolutely brilliant work. I have recording where some of the Monza pieces are still attributed to Pergolesi. Stravinski illustrating Pound's "Make it new" philosophy

[@PKLARREICH]

I think I have that recording, too. Conducted by (you guessed it) Stravinsky himself.

[@alarmisringing]

0:00 Trio Sonata No. 1 (Gallo) FOR-- Overture from Pulcinella 2:05 Il flaminio, Act 1 (Pergolesi) FOR-- Serenata from Pulcinella

[@paulmauffray]

Carlo Monza Harpsichord Suite #1 starts at 30:17, and Suite #3 starts at 32:42, now if I could only find the music ...

[@goodmanmusica]

Great!

[@marcellabear]

Great job !!!

[@shoelstadlen]

This is so useful - thank you!

[@karukaru1960]

Excellent research. Many thanks.

[@VideoFunForAll]

Great work!

[@user-rf6to7bl6l]

Excellent videos

[@persillebalzmp.758]

Thanks so much!

[@mozart208305]

這些作曲家除了斐哥羅西外，全是明不見經傳之倍，神奇的是經過史特拉文斯基卓越的改作，這些作品全蛻變為經典

[@neho00]

Great job! Thank you!!

[@danviggers6300]

This is great! Also, right after the Gallo Trio Sonata no. 2, mvt I [7:57] should be: Pergolesi, Il Flaminio, Act III, canzona “Benedetto, Maledetto," which corresponds to the Poco piu vivo bridge in Pulcinella. Also interesting, Stravinsky's source for Allegro Alle Breve [23:18] was a 1903 edition by Alessandro Longo and Luigi Stafano Giarda, which is much more "modern" than the original Gallo manuscripts. Stravinsky reproduces the 1903 edition almost exactly.

[@adrianosbrandao]

Dan Viggers, thanks for your amazing remarks :)

[@danviggers6300]

Thank you! I listen to this video almost every day. The information of my comment comes from the amazing work by Maureen Carr in "Stravinsky's Pulcinella: A Facsimile of the Sources and Sketches" and Barry S Brooks work on Pulcinella as well. With the Carr book, you can see all of the manuscripts provided to Stravinsky, including where he crosses out what he will delete and where he writes new music write on top of the original material. Very fascinating to see.

[@adrianosbrandao]

Dan Viggers, wow, I’ll go after this book. Thanks again!

[@matijakrunic7498]

wow the lush tenor solo from Una te fa la nzemprece is radically different than Pergolesi's thinner soprano original. Stravinksy's imagination is so formidable!

[@familiemooi3768]

Great work Mr. Brandão! I admire your encyclopaedic knowledge of classical music, your inquisitve mind, your perseverence: indeed, all three!

[@justinemerlin6357]

Thank you very much !

[@MassimoCrispi]

Wonderful work!

[@alfonsoatkinson1]

thank you so much°°

[@GoldinDr]

Really helpful compilation! Interesting to see how much of the music was by Domenico Gallo. Just by listening, I would have a hard time distinguishing between Gallo and Pergolesi.

[@edgarsmakens]

Pergolesi "Il flaminio" is at 2:03

[@srothbardt]

What recordings do you use here? Thanks for sharing this!

[@lilah5064]

This is so inspiring wow , what inspires you to make this kind of content?

[@familiemooi3768]

I believe the 'se tu m'ami' aria is attibuted to Pergolesi, and is therefore probably either by him or by some other composer of that era. To my ears, it does not really sound like a 19th century song... However, I take nothing back of my previous compliments!

[@adrianosbrandao]

Familie Mooi “Se tu m’ami” was published in a collection of supposedly “antique arias” by several composers and arranged by Parisotti. This particular one was credited to Pergolesi. But recent studies have shown that the aria was composed by Parisotti himself emulating the Pergolesi style.

[@familiemooi3768]

@@adrianosbrandao That is very interesing! It reminds me of some simlar little pieces composed by Fritz Kreisler and originally presented as originals by baroque (and other) composers.... I have forgotten the details. And it reminds me of the famous Albinoni Adagion that turned out to be composed by his 20th century biographer Remo Giazotto. So, you have trumped me and I bow to your superior knowledge :) Thank you again.

[@user-ng8cp7wg4v]

Stravinsky was genial ,this is out of question, nevertheless his “Pulcinella” is an intelligent collage of melodies of Pergolesi(1710 - Pozzuoli, 16 marzo 1736) and Domenico Gallo (Venezia, 1730 circa - 1768). Stravinsky was genial above all in is his orchestration . I mean the choice of the instruments . For instance he substitutes the clavichords with a trumpet and a cello in low register with a trombone. His honesty of artist maintain the integral Italian texts. I want to in indicate a link to hold up my naive analyses of The Pulcinella ,that the unreachable Russian maister wrote. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYCVpoqVjt6YjLc

[@srothbardt]

Thanks very much for your reply. It's curious that one of the vocal numbers is actually by a composer in the early 20th century. How did that get into the box of the material marked as by Pergolesi? Thanks for your work to put this together!

[@finosuilleabhain7781]

Excellent work, thank you. If you still make videos, perhaps you'd like to do the same for The Fairy's Kiss?

[@SP-qi8ur]

The piece called "Gavotte with two variations" in Pulcinella suite, what is its source? Thanks.

[@GoldinDr]

Monza's Suite No. 3.

[@SP-qi8ur]

@@GoldinDrthanks g

[@srothbardt]

Interesting! You should write a book and include the music on a disc. Isn't there music by a German count in there, also?

[@Vicentebujalance]

Great work! But I have a doubt: The last movement shown in this video, is supposed to belong to the 7th Trio Sonata by Domenico Gallo, but I've seen in another videos, where we can enjoy all the Trio sonatas by Gallo, that this piece of music is actually the third movement of the Trio Sonata number 12 in E major. Anyone can underwrite this? It would be good to know because I'm making some investigations for my graduation work. Thank you!

[@danviggers6300]

Correct.

[@SP-qi8ur]

Anyone know the source for the Gavotta with 2 variations (Allegro moderato)?

[@adrianosbrandao]

S P Carlo Monza’s Harpischord Suite no 3

[@ursiha]

Thank you!

[@SP-qi8ur]

The piece called "Gavotte with two variations" in Pulcinella suite, what is its source? Thanks.