Scherzo à la russe

Igor Stravinsky

This article is a stub. If you can help add information to it,
please join the WRP and visit the FAQ (left sidebar) for information.

General Info

Year: 1945 / 1977
Duration: c. 4:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Jazz orchestra
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print.

For availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Scherzo à la russe is a 1944 composition by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was initially published by Chappell & Co. in 1945 and premiered in March 1946 by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer himself. It was later published by Boosey & Hawkes.

Stravinsky had been going through economical problems since he moved to America, partially because he lost the royalties from his works in Europe and had to compose more works to exploit them in America. The Scherzo à la russe was first conceived as a work for film use, as it was intended to be featured in The North Star. When the film project was aborted, Stravinsky decided to re-orchestrate it for Paul Whiteman Band. The only two conditions were: the piece had to be easy-listening and it had to fit on a 78 rpm disc. This version for jazz orchestra was premiered in 1944 by Blue Network but, according to Stravinsky scholar Eric Walter White, it didn't seem to be a success. Stravinsky decided to arrange it again in 1945 for symphony orchestra for it to be published and premiered in 1946 at San Francisco.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

State Ratings

Virginia: V

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Acadia University (Wolfville, N.S., Can.) Wind Ensemble (Mark Hopkins, conductor) - 23 October 2022
Medalist Concert Band (Bloomington, Minn.) (Jerry Luckhardt, conductor) - 20 May 2018

Works for Winds by This Composer

Berceuse and Finale from "The Firebird" (arr. Longfield) (1910/1998)
Berceuse and Finale from "The Firebird" (arr. Goldman) (1910/1941)
Berceuse and Finale from "The Firebird" (arr. McAlister and Reed) (1910/1989)
Circus Polka (orch. Raksin) (1942/1948)
Concertino for 12 Instruments (1920/1952)
Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (1950)
Ebony Concerto (1946)
Elegy for JFK (1964)
Excerpts from "The Rite of Spring" (arr. Buckley) (1913/2015)
Fanfare for a New Theater (1968)
Finale from "The Firebird" (arr. Story) (1910/2014)
The Firebird: Finale (arr. Hanna) (1910/2023)
The Firebird (trans. Patterson) (1910)
Firebird Excerpts (arr. Bocook) (1910/1995)
The Firebird Suite (tr. Earles, ed. Fennell) (1910/1998)
Fireworks, Op 4 (trans. Rogers) (1908)
Funeral Song (1908)
L'Histoire du Soldat (1918)
Mass for Mixed Chorus and Double Wind Quintet (1948)
Octuor (1923)
Pastorale (1907/1933)
The Rite of Spring (tr. Patterson) (1913/1947)
The Rite of Spring (arr. Sánchez) (1913)
The Rite of Spring (arr. Vosbein) (1913/2011)
Scherzo à la russe (arr. Marciniak) (1944/1977)
Song of the Volga Boatmen (ed. Simpson) (1917/1989)
Suite from "The Firebird" (trans. Nefs) (1919/2013)
Suite from "The Firebird" (trans. Knox) (1919)
Suite No 2 for Wind Ensemble or Small Concert Band (tr. McAlister and Binney) (1921/1988)
Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920, rev. 1947)
Symphony of Psalms (1930/1948)

Resources

Scherzo à la russe (Stravinsky), Wikipedia Accessed 29 May 2018
Stravinsky, I.; Marciniak, T. (1977). Scherzo à la russe: For Concert Band [score]. Associated Music: New York.