Octet (Stravinsky)
From Wind Repertory Project
Contents |
General Info
Year: 1923 / 1952
Duration: c. 15:00
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown | Score Only - $32.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute
Bassoon I-II
Bb Soprano Clarinet (doubles Soprano Clarinet in A)
Trumpet (in C)
Trumpet (in A)
Tenor Trombone
Bass Trombone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Stravinsky’s Octuor for Wind Instruments (commonly known simply as the “Octet”) was written at a time in which the composer was beginning to experiment with more formal writing, a practice that would come to be known as “Neo-Classicism.” Stravinsky himself detested the term, calling it “a much abused expression meaning absolutely nothing.” The essence of neo-classicism is writing that is modern-sounding in its approach to harmony, rhythm, and counterpoint, yet is composed following the basic forms and ideals of the Classical period. Regardless of Stravinsky’s personal opinions on the semantics of the style, it was clear that he was employing a more formal and structured method in his compositions, and like it or not, he was a Neo-Classicist. Just a decade before he had burst onto the scene with his three nationalistic ballet scores, the last of which –Rite of Spring–had caused a near-riot at its premiere. Yet here Stravinsky was already abdicating the style that had brought him to fame, and was plunging into a new style, a style that never seemed to catch the public’s fancy in the way his lush Romantic scores had.
The score was begun at Biarritz, France, in late 1922, and was completed in Paris on 20 May 1923. The original version was published by Edition Russe de Musique in 1924; a later revised version (edited by Albert Spalding) is still published by Boosey & Hawkes. The manuscript resides in the Stiftung Rychenberg Winterthur. The premiere performance took place at the “Concerts Koussevitsky” in the Paris Opera House on 18 October 1923, with the composer conducting. Stravinsky decided to conduct the premiere performance partly due to the bad taste in his mouth from his experience with the premiere of Symphonies of Wind Instruments (in which he was unhappy with the way that Serge Koussevitzky interpreted the work), and partly because he did not want to risk another conductor “interpreting” a work for which –according to Stravinsky- there was no interpretation.
Discussing the Octuor shortly after its first performance, Stravinsky said:
“Form, in my music, derives from counterpoint. I consider counterpoint as the only means though which the attention of the composer is concentrated on purely musical questions. Its elements also lend themselves perfectly to an architectural construction.”
Program Note by Nikk Pilato
Commercial Discography
State Ratings
- Florida: VI
Recent Performances
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Additional Works for Winds by this Composer
- Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (Stravinsky)
- Ebony Concerto (1946)
- Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920)
Additional Resources
- Walsh, Stephen. (1988). The Music of Stravinsky. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Winther, R. (2004). An Annotated Guide to wind Chamber Music. Miami: Warner Brothers.
- Wood Jr., James J. (2007) A Historical and Analytical Examination of the Stravinsky Octet for Wind Instruments, with a Guide to Performance Preparation of the Two Trumpet Parts [Doctoral Dissertation].
