PULCINELLA SUITE: SINFONIA, GAVOTTA, VIVO. Stravinsky

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1 PULCINELLA SUITE: SINFONIA, GAVOTTA, VIVO Stravinsky

2 CONTEXT Drama expressed through dance ballet Developed in French Court in 17 th Century Great Russian Ballets 19 th Century, composers such as Tchaikovsky became popular outside of France In 1909, Serge Diaghilev formed Ballets Russess new Russian Ballet company he brought together the most talented dancers, designers and composers of the day Stravinsky wrote large scale ballets for the company in 1909, 1911 and 1913 Ballets Russes was disrupted by WWI in 1914 and Russian Revolution in 1917 Tomasini produced orchestrations of Baroque keyboard sonatas by Scarlatti for Diaghilev with characters in Venetian masks Diaghilev repeated this successful formula with Stravinsky 18 th century Pergolesi compositions

3 PULCINELLA SUITE: SINFONIA, GAVOTTA, VIVO Stravinsky adapted these pieces for 32 piece chamber orchestra: Pairs of flutes Oboes (no clarinets) Bassoons Horns A trumpet Strings (concertino soloists) and ripieno (full section) in the manner of Baroque Concerto Grosso 3 singers (soprano, tenor and bass) as Pergolesi excerpts are vocal Trombone (part was more circus like)

4 PULCINELLA SUITE: SINFONIA, GAVOTTA, VIVO Pulcinella premiered by Ballets Russess at Paris Opera on 15 May 1920 Sets were by Picasso Choreography by Leonide Massine (danced the title role) Orchestra conducted by Ernest Ansermet The Suite never entered mainstream plot was too complicated, large cast, disjointed succession of 21 small movements. Stravinsky adapted it to a suite of 8 movements in 1922 for concert hall SINFONIA Movement 1 of Suite, Overture of Ballet GAVOTTA Movement 6 of Suite, no.16 in Ballet (Scene VI) VIVO Movement 7 (duetto) of Suite, no. 17 in Ballet (Scene VII)

5 NEOCLASSICISM 20 th Century style popular between 2 world wars Reaction to emotionally-charged Romanticism of previous century Purer type of music reinterpreting, in a more modern way, basic principles of 18 th century music neoclassical term is confusing as composers found influence from Baroque era from first half of 18 th century back to Bach Pulcinella wasn t all entirely new material, and was based on 18 th century music. Stravinsky described his technique as re-composition He changed the original material in the following ways:

6 NEOCLASSICISM Unusual timbres innovative instrumentation Precise articulation contrast in dynamics Highlighting individual notes accents, doubling, emphasising syncopation Ornaments, new melodic decoration Thickening musical textures extra parts, doubling, pedal points, ostinati Taking out/adding bars to produce unexpected phrase lengths Weakening bass lines, cadences and adding dissonances to create harmonic ambiguity By the time we reach the Vivo, Stravinky s musical nuances are clear

7 SINFONIA - STRUCTURE Rounded Binary Form Two sections: Section 1 bars 0/4 15/3 Section 2 bars 15/4-44 (longer than 1 st section) Reinstatement of opening begins at bar 33 rounding off binary structure Addition of an extra bar (bar 18)

8 SINFONIA TONALITY G Major established at start of piece Modulates to D Major in bar 4 Second section begins in D major that weaves through different keys typical of binary form: Bar 21 G Major Bar 22 A Major Bar 23 B minor Bars Circle of 5ths Bar 29 E minor Bar 30 D Major Bar 31 A minor Bar 32 G Major

9 SINFONIA HARMONY Orchestra doubles parts and adds extra notes to chords Harmonies blurred in bar 3 adding A to G Major on beat 1, adding G to D Major chord on beat 2, while 2 nd violins play bare 5ths on open strings G-D-A Second oboe repeats a low B throughout bar 3 adding to harmonic richness F#, G, A and B all cluster on beat 2, while the B adds a major 7 th to the C Major chord on beat 3. Repeated perfect cadences in B minor (bars 26/4-28) Chromatic passing note in bar 36 (C#) even though piece is firmly in G major Harmonies smudged in bars violas playing a double pedal (E and B) through every one of the 6 different chords

10 SINFONIA RHYTHM & METRE 4/4 4/4 metre tripped up in bars with addition of 2/4 and ¾ bar (5 beats) The main melodic idea (before bar 1 and before bar 35) starts with an anacrusis Syncopation where? Dotted rhythms main theme, bars 7-9 Stravinsky added rests (semiquavers) to parts such as oboe bars 7-8 altering the original

11 SINFONIA MELODY Bars new countermelodies in texture bassoon, second violin and solo cello Bars original melody assigned to 2 nd violins and violas first violins have a new melody gently dissonant, descending scale that intertwines with Gallo s own descending sequences Bars modulating sequence One main melody supported by subordinate parts (this relates to texture too) Balanced melodic phrases Use of sequences (ascending and descending)

12 SINFONIA TEXTURE Largely homophonic texture one main melody supported by subordinate parts This texture varies from 3 part writing in bars taken from the trio sonata (Gallo) and the complex textural passages of bars which feature: dense accompaniment, solo sustained strings, repeated tutti strings, double-stopping on violas. Loud tutti entry bar 35

13 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS - STRUCTURE Gavotta is the Italian name for the French dance Gavotte. The overall structure is of a theme and variations the Gavotta carrying the main theme with 2 variations In the theme and first variation, first half is repeated, but not the second. First half modulates to the dominant (A Major, as tonic is D Major). The second half modulates through related keys to return to the tonic, but there is no repetition of the main theme in the second half. Gavotta in simple binary form A section bars 1-10 (with repeat) B section bars 11 onwards

14 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS - STRUCTURE B Section of the Gavotta starts with a 4 bar phrase in G major The final eight bars of the gavotta remain in the tonic and consists of a 4 bar phrase (bars 25-28) repeated in decorated form in bars Variations also in binary form Second variation has shorter note values so compressed into half the number of bars The second variation also repeats the second half, though in a rather unusual way. The repeat actually starts half-way through bar 80 (the beginning of the first time bar). The second phrase begins before the first has finished, overlapping with the last two notes (bar 82).

15 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS TONALITY Gavotta - Tonic D Major Modulates to dominant, A Major in Section A where? G Major bars A Major bars Cadence in F# minor bars E minor bars D Major bars Tonic for last 8 bars

16 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS HARMONY Underlying harmonies are simple and based on I, IV, V Walking bass bassoon part, second bassoon, based on Monza s original Retardations (upward resolving suspensions) occur sometimes. The second bar of the Gavotta begins with a C# retardation in the oboe part.. Harmonies of 3rds and 6ths double melody in bar 19 Bars 25-28, inverted tonic pedal weakens the effect of the perfect cadence

17 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS HARMONY Start of variation 1, second horn plays Monza s original bassline (with some simplifications) Beginning of the second half of Variation 1 of the Gavotta (bars 43-46), the oboe outlines simple tonic and subdominant chords (D and G). The bassoons always play notes that fit these chords. On the other hand, the brass continuously repeat a tonic chord. This is fine in the first bar, but in the second (bar 44) this tonic chord produces a powerful discord, with the F# in the trombone clashing with the G in the oboe and bassoon 2. Chain of unprepared dissonances generated by 2 nd flute in bar 77 and consecutive 5ths n bar 79

18 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS RHYTHM & METRE Gavotta fairly fast (allegro moderato) duple-metre (2/2) dance Shorter note values in 2 nd variation Variation I in the style of a gigue, a lively Baroque dance, in compound time (6/8) Variation 2 contains rhythmic groupings which would never have been written by eighteenth-century composers, though Baroque players may well have played ornaments using that kind of rhythm. These include frequent quintuplets and rapid scales in groups of 11 or 12 to a single crotchet beat.

19 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS MELODY Stravinsky s melody lines tend to follow the eighteenth-century originals particularly closely. Simple balanced phrase structure is often apparent In the first 10 bars of the Gavotta, Monza s melody is played by the first oboe There is a turn in bar 20 of the Gavotta. There is a written out turn at the beginning of the Gavotta (bar 1 oboe). More complex versions of written out ornamentation can be found in the second variation of the Gavotta. There are frequent quintuplet turns here. The original trill in bar 31 of the Gavotta is notated in full, and the final 4 bars are just as Monza wrote it.

20 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS MELODY The ornamental style of this variation also includes rapid scalic passages. At the start of variation 1, the first oboe plays Monza s melody with a countermelody (added by Stravinsky) on the first horn Sequential repetition of bars 43-46, at Sometimes the melody line outlines broken chords as in Variation 1 in the oboe part, bars Melody of variation II shared between flute and horn Octave displacement changes the shape of the original melody at the start of the second section of variation II Ornamentation, such as upward rushing scales in bars 73,76 and 78 added by Stravinsky, as well as countermelodies for second flute and first oboe in this same section

21 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS TEXTURE Monza s original keyboard gavotte mainly 2 part texture apart from bars where left hand is chordal The texture at the beginning of the gavotta seems like melody-dominated homophony in a way, but although the oboe has the main tune, the other parts have such interesting lines that it might be more appropriate to call it four-part texture here. Texture thickened at bar 19 by doubling melody in 3rds and 6ths There are moments of homorhythm all parts playing the same rhythm as at bar 23.

22 GAVOTTA & VARIATIONS TEXTURE There are quite frequent broken chord textures in the accompaniment, e.g. bar 50 of Variation 1. Contrapuntal interest from bar 51 of Variation 1 At the beginning of Variation 2 the solo bassoon plays an elaborate contorted version of an Alberti bass accompaniment, sometimes stretched over very large intervals. Alberti bass is a type of accompaniment associated mainly with keyboard music. In its simplest form it outlines a three note broken chord in the bass, moving from lowest to highest to middle to highest note. Stravinsky altered it to make it less keyboard-like

23 VIVO - STRUCTURE Rounded binary first section ends at bar 21 Second section begins with a false start then at bar 25 opening is heard it begins unexpectedly in the tonic key. The first three bars here (22-24) were added by Stravinsky to Pergolesi s original as a kind of joke Theme reappears in dominant at bar 25 Bars rescored repeat of bars 6-13 Rescored and abbreviated version of first section rounds of binary form at bar 53 (omits bars 5-13 of opening) Concludes with a cadence figure (bar 65) Pergolesi ended A secion by repeating bars in too predictable for Stravinsky who instead adds in a glissando and accented semiquaver ascent

24 VIVO - STRUCTURE A mock mournful version of the tune in the tonic minor (Fm) appears at bar 46. The main tune returns with unaccompanied double bass in the tonic key (bar 53). A new comic cadence phrase with an inversion of the original glissando idea completes the movement

25 VIVO TONALITY In F Major The first half modulates to the dominant (C), but only just before the double bar. A modulating sequence then takes the music through G major back to the tonic (F). F Minor Bar 46 (tonic minor key) fingerprint of Pergolesi s style One of the most interesting altered cadences is at the end of the Vivo, when the cadence is transformed into a kind of III-I. Only the G remains of the dominant chord, and there is no third in the mediant chord.

26 VIVO HARMONY Harmonies more Stravinsky than Baroque For example bass is changed to weaken perfect cadence by omitting dominant ( C ) in the second half of bar 4 Bars 3032 repetitions of C Major chord Smudges (syncopated) cadence of bar 33 by including the tonic (G) in the D7 chord and then 2 nd oboe sticks to an F# while everyone else is playing G major for second chord Bars weak beat tonic pedal Bars orchestral basses play F-F-E-E bassline, smudged by solo cello which stays on tonic F

27 VIVO HARMONY Cadences and tonal music undermined by Stravinsky in this movement in bars 54-55, he omits V and I in the bass and even removes the key note from the tune in bar 55. By changing Stravinsky s sequential bass in bar 59 (from an A to an F), Stravinsky anticipates the tonic and weakens the effect of the cadence in bars he also removes the dominant ( C ) from that cadence and rewrites the bass of bar 61 to make it less tonic ( F ) centred. DESTABILISES THE CADENCE.

28 VIVO RHYTHM & METRE In 2/4 Vivo, crotchet = Accented semiquavers bars Syncopated cadence bar 33 Vivo uses demisemiquavers in the double bass, while the trombone has glissandi. The short length of notes is sometimes emphasised by the performance directions, e.g. staccatiss. e secco ( very detached and dry ) bar 46 in the Vivo. There is a dramatic pause just before the end of the Vivo.

29 VIVO MELODY Opening theme, based on a descending figure, use of glissandi Pergolesi s cello line assigned to solo double bass until bar 52 After bar 52, melody is shared with trombone very un-baroque timbre Rushing strings, bar 21 Opening melodic motif/theme heard for the third time at bars Joke-like melody

30 VIVO PERFORMING FORCES/INSTRUMENTATION Original bass part in orchestral double basses (except in bars 30-37, taken by trombone) Trombone glissandi where? Detailed performance directions underline Stravinsky s humorous approach here Sudden dynamic changes Exaggerated accents Lower strings du talon (heel of bow) rough, raspy quality High double bass tessitura bars 46-49

31 VIVO TEXTURE Rapid alternation between loud tutti sections and quieter, mainly solo passages (similar to sinfonia) Mostly melody-dominated homophony Bars 38-45, flutes double bass melody 3 octaves higher, rhythmically different, creating a heterophonic texture In the Vivo the double bass solo often doubles the trombone part, as at the beginning, though double bass music sounds an octave lower than it is written, so the doubling is at the octave.

7. Stravinsky. Pulcinella Suite: Sinfonia, Gavotta and Vivo

7. Stravinsky. Pulcinella Suite: Sinfonia, Gavotta and Vivo 7. Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite: Sinfonia, Gavotta and Vivo (For Unit 6: Further Musical Understanding) Background information and performance circumstances The Russian composer, Igor Stravinsky wrote the