Violin Concerto (Stravinsky)

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Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D was composed in the summer of 1931 in France. The idea of a violin concerto was born in the minds of Stravinsky's music publisher at the time, Willy Strecker of B. Schotts Söhne and violinist Samuel Dushkin. Strecker introduced Stravinsky to Dushkin, proposing that Stravinsky could consult with Dushkin about various technical issues. Stravinsky noted in his autobiography that Dushkin's availability for advice was a factor in his undertaking the violin concerto. He also sought the opinion of composer and violinist Paul Hindemith, who allayed Stravinsky's fears about his unfamiliarity with the instrument, saying that this might help him come up with new possibilities for the instrument.

Blair Fairchild, Dushkin's patron, commissioned the work.

It was composed in the neoclassical phase of Stravinsky's compositional evolution, after his primitivist phase and before turning to serialism.

The work premiered on October 23, 1931 in Berlin, with Dushkin playing the violin and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stravinsky himself. Dushkin also gave the work's first US performance, with Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The concerto was choreographed by George Balanchine as "Balustrade" in 1941. It premiered on January 22, 1941. In 1972 Balanchine created a new Ballet to the music, entitled "Stravinsky Violin Concerto." It was premiered by New York City Ballet as part of the Stravinsky Festival.

Contents

[edit] Movements

  1. Toccata
  2. Aria I
  3. Aria II
  4. Capriccio

A similar identical chord is played by the soloist in the beginning of each movement, which the composer himself described as "the password to the concerto." It is believed that the chord, which stretches from D to E to A with an additional octave in between each, was conceived while Stravinsky was eating lunch in a cafe in Paris. Dushkin claimed at first that the chord was unplayable but he later figured out how to, much to Stravinsky's delight.

A typical performance of the concerto will last approximately 20 minutes.

[edit] Instrumentation

The music requires a solo violin, piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, strings.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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