Igor Stravinsky - Symphony in 3 Movements [With score]

Composer: Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (17 June 1882 - 6 April 1971)
Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker
Conductor: Pierre Boulez
Recorded in: Berlin, 1996
Symphony in Three Movements, written between 1942 and 1945
00:00 - I. [♩=160]
09:54 - II. Andante [♪=76]
16:30 - III. Con moto [♩=108]
Igor Stravinsky completed his Symphony in Three Movements in 1945. The first movement was begun in April 1942, and the final work was completed a few months after the end of World War II. During this time the composer was engaged in contract negotiations to write film scores. Among the film moguls interested in commissioning Stravinsky was Louis B. Mayer, then president of MGM. Stravinsky had already written music before the projects were scrapped, and much of it found its way into Symphony in Three Movements. The outer movements involved wartime news footage, and the central movement was written for the appearance of the Virgin Mary in the film The Song of Bernadette, based on the Franz Werfel novel.
To integrate the different groups of material, Stravinsky chose to feature the piano and harp in separate, concertante roles in the first two movements, and then combined them in the third movement in an extended fugal arrangement. The symphony is a great balancing act, weaving together disparate musical ideas. The outer movements are explosive, indicative of the film score style common to American war footage. Ironic artifice, a signature sound in his music, is particularly understated in this symphony. Likewise, the middle movement, originally intended for the Virgin apparition, is suitably wrought with veneration, though perhaps not to the extent that would have please the film's producers. Stravinsky was not the sort of composer who gushed excessively, if at all. His Symphonies of Wind Instruments was an elegy of Debussy's passing, a composer and friend of enormous importance to Stravinsky, but any lamentations in the work are under total control. It was not in his character to express his feelings musically, and in fact, felt that musical was incapable of "expressing" anything. That being the case, for him to depict Bernadette's shock and amazement at encountering the Mother of Christ would have sounded unnatural. The central movement is not rhapsodic or indicative of a human soul overwhelmed in the presence of a divine being. It is contemplative music, subtle and understated, and free of amazement. The outer movements are somewhat more successful in capturing the intended spirit of war footage. They feature tumultuous blasts of brass and driving rhythms but again the composer seems removed from the excitement and concern the music is supposed to convey, instead sounding rather bizarre and exotic. The focused intensity of a believer in either war or religion was too singular a nuance for Stravinsky to sustain for an entire film score. Ultimately, the result of this forgivable failing was an excellent and memorable symphony.
[allmusic.com]

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

You could always count on PB to make sure the composers intentions were properly performed. The world of modern music was lucky to have him.

[@johnryskamp7755]

But unlucky to have his music, which is uninteresting. As he himself was--have you read his lectures? What a prig, and how old-fashioned and trite his ideas are! He's like some arid Jansenist. It's like he stepped out of a Bresson film.

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

@@johnryskamp7755 I find his music to be too much head and not enough heart. I prefer Gershwin.

[@9827george]

@@johnryskamp7755 Go to hell!How arrogant .

[@9827george]

@@stephenjablonsky1941 I don't like Champagne, I prefer Sprite.

[@korhonenmikko]

Not in all cases. Boulez's recording of Mahler's 5th is too held-back in my opinion.

[@paulamrod537]

This piece was written over his first impressions of Manhattan.! This marvelous rhythmical composer with a sharp ear always for exciting harmonies here accomplished an absolute masterpiece!

[@johnryskamp7755]

Dream on!

[@Twentythousandlps]

I don't know where you got such a notion. IS composed this many years after his first visit to Manhattan.

[@anthonyjensen8347]

Stravinsky, as a general rule, rarely spoke on the extramusical references and inspirations of his work, but this symphony is one of the prominent exceptions to that rule. In the program notes during the work's premiere in NYC, he had argued that he considered it to be purely absolute, with no extramusical references (an attitude which was corroborated in his autobiography a decade prior to the debut of the Symphony: "I consider that music, by its very nature, is essentially powerless to express anything at all…"¹). However, in Robert Craft's book Dialogues and Diary, published in 1963, Stravinsky made the case that the work was actually composed as a reaction to events surrounding World War II (e.g. the first movement was inspired by the Japanese scorched earth tactics utilized in the Chinese theatre)². However, even despite this, he does close discussion on the piece with the remark: "But enough of this. In spite of what I have said, the Symphony is not programmatic. Composers combine notes. That is all."³ So no, this particular piece wasn't inspired by Manhattan. There are elements of American music, particularly jazz, that Stravinsky does use throughout the piece. However, the extramusical connotations of the piece, if Stravinsky ever intended any, were wholly separate from Manhattan itself. Sources: ¹ - Stravinsky, Igor. An Autobiography. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935), 53. ² - Craft, Robert. Dialogues and Diary. (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1963), 83-85. ³ - Ibid., 85.

[@valerieheinderyckx4506]

Magnifique chef d'oeuvre. Très belle version ❤.

[@robkeeleycomposer]

You might be thinking of the last two movements of the earlier Symphony in C. And probably the boulevards of Los Angeles! But they certainly share the shame open-eyed motoric thrill.

[@alexandradaniele]

Fantastic music! Balanchine choreographed Sym in 3 for the 1972 Stravinsky Festival and it has become an enduring classic in New York City Ballet's rep.

[@philzmusic8098]

One of my 20th century faves. Apart from the Big 3, Stravinsky is shamefully ignored. This should be played as often as Bartóks Concerto for Orchestra.

[@emmanuelbarks5896]

Hey KZbin, either post your ads before or at the conclusion of any great work of art.

[@Protonixum]

Œuvre dynamique et rappelle le Sacre du Printemps. Excellent !

[@camelliasitimayabintimoham4591]

listening to this today in 2021, still blows our minds. immaculate irregular rhythms, effective pandiatonic soundscapes, every musical gesture of Stravinsky is meaningful and not just written.

[@robkeeleycomposer]

Beautifully put, if I may say so. And don't forget the piano's octatonic boogies in the first movement!

[@thundermax4759]

A true inventor of new music. Thanks for sharing score. Love the major-minor clashes. If rhythmic precision and attention to subtleties are not adhered to, this would sound like a mess. Beautifully done. Stravinsky uses such simple ideas and rhythmically, metrically, and orchestrally manipulates them into pure genius of outcome.

[@KenNickels]

Especially when he puts dominant notes of a phrase on weak beats and vice versa when he could write it "straight" without the metric changes. But it wouldn't sound the same.

[@johnryskamp7755]

It's one of the rather obvious devices of all Stravinsky's music beginning with Mavra. How empty it is--the persistent criticism of Stravinsky's music.

[@johnryskamp7755]

Stravinsky's ideas are always simple because he had no ideas--simply a burning desire to get out of Petersburg.

[@joshuamallory8107]

@@johnryskamp7755 at the very least, it is evident you have no appreciation for complex rhythmical devices 🥸

[@tonynilebernie]

Boulez... a great conductor of Stravinsky's works

[@psijicassassin7166]

A pity Boulez's music is just elevator music for crash test dummy factories..

[@Myriam-nk2fw]

​@@psijicassassin7166😕

[@JohnBolender]

I wish he had conducted a few more works, e.g. Oedipus Rex.

[@Goobilicous]

17:30 is one of my favorite bassoon excerpts. It's so crunchy and off putting but so awesome at the same time.

[@mrsoldatov2106]

Like a sneaky walk

[@gerardbegni2806]

This wymphony, together with the symphony of psalms, is probably one of the best achievements of the neoclassical Stravinsky.

[@loge10]

Great work - I've never followed the score before although I've loved this work for over 40 years. Thanks!

[@PanagiotisLafkaridis]

The ending is unreal

[@robkeeleycomposer]

i could be wrong but I gather this euphoric ending was written at almost exactly the same time as the bombing of Hiroshima. Make of that what you will! (I'm pretty sure IS was unaware of the tragedy)

[@user-kz9sg2cx6]

Out of the words. ... My name is Igor and I love music by Stravinsky.

[@victorgrauer5834]

Exhilarating! This masterwork looks backward to the aesthetic of the Rite and forward to his adoption of serialism. What genius.

[@docbailey3265]

That’s what I’ve been trying to say.

[@adolfoleongomez4631]

Igor Strawinsky un verdadero Coloso en Ideas Musicales, Orquestación Perfecta y de Gran Equilibrio y su Magia con EL RITMO. MARAVILLÓ Y PARA SIEMPRE GRANDE.

[@davidrehak3539]

Igor Sztravinszkij:Szimfónia három tételben 1.Nyitány:Allegro 00:05 2.Andante; Interlude: L'istesso tempo 09:54 3.Con moto 16:30 Berlini Filharmonikus Zenekar Vezényel:Pierre Boulez

[@JafuetTheSame]

three, drei, trois, tre, tres, tri ... három

[@verntiki]

One of his best (if not 'the') best work for smallish orchestra

[@JBearInIndiana]

Thanks for sharing - one of my favorites

[@Silviola824]

1:18 starts the buildup to one of my favorite timpani moments of all time, really kicks into gear at 1:32. I love how the part emphasizes select notes of the scales the bass instruments are playing (the 3 notes of the C major triad), while also making the section groovy as hell with syncopation as a result of the scales occasionally changing their starting pitch. It's just great writing.

[@Silviola824]

Should say that it doesn't follow it exactly, when the scales have a B, the timpani plays G. It's a fast and intense section, guessing it would be too much to tune down to a B for one note. Timpani switches to a G major triad right after this section, though Stravinsky gives the timpanist time to make this switch.

[@johnryskamp7755]

Yes, so much better than Bartok, that hack.

[@Allanfearn]

This is miles away from Stravinsky himself in his first, New York recording (how much of the second was actually conducted by Robert Craft we shall never know). You wouldn't have expected Boulez to have been that interested in it, and he doesn't sound more than his usual professional self, but he is surely trying to distance it from the Rite of Spring even when Stravinsky himself as conductor seems to be referring directly to it,

[@johnryskamp7755]

Seems? That's because this work takes many passages right out of the Sacre (as well as Pet.).

[@brucehaymes5289]

The beautiful , limpid second movement is one of my favourite sections of music

[@robertowarren7007]

A favorite from my favorite composer ❤

[@tanewsha4183]

0:04 вступ 0:30 г.п 0:47 св.п 1:18 п.п 9:54 тема А 2ч 16:30 гл.п тема военного марша 3ч

[@mikeklimczak9600]

Fantastic work. Saw this performed at the Chicago Symphony a decade ago. Stellar performance.

[@ksol1460tv]

Part 2 09:54 was written for the film "The Song of Bernadette". What you hear is what he intended for Bernadette's first meeting with her lady. I'm sorry they went with Alfred Newman instead, because this has a more unusual, otherworldly feel to it. If you're going to write music for young women meeting the Virgin Mary on an otherwise completely ordinary after-school errand, you want it to sound like this. Maybe they could use it for a film about Garabandal.

[@23logaritam]

cool info tnx

[@johnryskamp7755]

Maybe they could use it in a commercial for Oreos.

[@truBador2]

A film score with this much nuance and character would have been the next level for cinema. Still could be.

[@jaspernatchez]

Thanks for posting this.

[@sveinungnygaard1505]

The final chord is amazing

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

D flat 9 add 6

[@brunogerevini8504]

commenta Stravinskj, il mio preferito .

[@lkh0120]

14:44 my favorite part of this piece The progression of this chord reminds me of the evening sunset.

[@WillMartinComposer]

0:49 John Adams uses a VERY similar rhythm in the strings in The Chairman Dances

[@johnryskamp7755]

Yes, mediocrities do tend to borrow from each other.

[@averagemusicenjoyer]

@@johnryskamp7755 very funny

[@verstengenericks]

Wasn't this once upon a time the background music for ads for the TV miniseries of Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels?!! Anyone here remember that?

[@PepperWilliams_songcovers]

21:49-21:51 I defy anyone who says that Jerry Goldsmith didn't "borrow" this 'lick' from the Master Stravinsky for the 1968 movie, "Planets of The Apes"? He even modified it in movies like "Capricorn One". Don't get it twisted, Jerry Goldsmith was a genius as well, but he definitely knew who the real "Master" was. Igor was a genius on so many levels❤❤❤

[@whatadamnusername]

Good thing I'm not a bassoonist, because I have listened to the double solo in the third movement dozens of times but I cannot get the rhythm absolutely correct, at least not in the second bassoon. Halfway through, the oddly placed accents throw me off.

[@davidnissen1]

I am a retired Bassoonist and worked with many of the London orchestras after leaving the BBC Philharmonic in 1973. I played this work by Stravinsky many times and I can assure you this particular passage is difficult even for professional players. The problem is the passage is in very close cannon and a sort of stutter occurs between the players. Experiments have been made to discover the cause of stutters in speech and it was found that if you record a person speaking and playback a fraction of second later at the same time as speaking, the individual will begin to stutter. This is what happens here in this passage for the players. If even one of the players gets slightly out with the rhythm then the passage falls apart.

[@awb222]

There is a mistake in counter-bassoon part two measures before RN 177 . There should be added g flat quaver on the second ( from six) beat and semi quaver c flat must be moved to the beat “four-and” ( the 8th semi quaver in this measure ). If this mistake is fixed in Counter-bassoon part the part of the second bassoon seems to be more logical and much easier to perform.

[@alexkije]

varying harmonic structures.

[@davidmayhew8083]

I love to find out the this was his impression on seeing NYC. I've always thought the score perfect to describe a big boned modern city. A noir quality too. Edgy and lean.

[@robkeeleycomposer]

Yes, 'noir' is just right, but more likely to be Los Angeles, where he was living at the time (Hollywood, to be precise) I was watching 'Kiss me Deadly' the other evening and was looking out for Igor walking along Sunset Boulevard (1955)!

[@user-kz9sg2cx6]

Stravinsky - novus ordo decorum in music.

[@paulybarr]

Hell, Pierre! I would have insisted on a retake of that first bar; the great Berlin Phil is not together on either the first of the third beat. Didn't anyone notice?!

[@davidmayhew8083]

Razor sharp. Yum!

[@paulamrod537]

The results written so mildly from Dallapicolla resembled Stravinsky than any Webern. One hears this with this symphony.

[@ierikopj]

👏👏👏🌹🌹🌹

[@jwillemze]

20:10 - 172 21:48 - 188

[@krantiyatri]

Diamine, quanto ha copiato Walter Piston da questa sinfonia! E quando ha copiato Stravinsky qui da Bartok! (dal n. 89 un'integrale passaggio arrangiato della musica per celesta, archi e percussione)

[@AndrewKosinskicomposer]

3:23, 8:18, 22:00

[@GustavMahlerHorn]

Great piece but not enjoying to play this as a high horn player, give me a break lol.

[@yrockerboy]

2:01 Holst-core?

[@half.step.]

baller

[@lotuschan55]

진짜 넌 놀랍다. 이러다 스트라빈스키 전곡 다 돌 기세

[@chgem.2658]

Which Part was written for Song of Bernadette?

[@robkeeleycomposer]

the central movement, with the harp, apparently.

[@junghyelim4790]

19:51

[@ekmke96]

9:57

[@docbailey3265]

Anyone care to translate the program notes above into English?

[@Wkkbooks]

Well, I don't see focused intensity as being a singular nuance either.

[@maxgregorycompositions6216]

They are already in English.

[@abstractjak4301]

Thumb downers - question. Why.

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

clueless ads

[@johnryskamp7755]

Not surprisingly--since it was written in Hollywood--it sounds like a film score. They should have used it The Guns of Navarrone. Ferde Grofe, eat your heart out!

[@michaelreevesangryroomba16]

Igor Stravinsky sold his soul to Ling Ling xDD

[@docbailey3265]

Way too many notes for my liking.

[@wanderlngdays]

There are just as many notes, Majesty, as are required. Neither more nor less

[@docbailey3265]

@@wanderlngdays Quite right.

[@ekmke96]

12:25