Cantata (Stravinsky)

Composion by Igor Stravinsky

Cantata

by Igor Stravinsky
Text| anonymous 15th- and 16th-century poems
Language| English
Composed| 1951 (1951)–52
Performed| 11 November 1952 (1952-11-11)
Scoring|

* soprano
* tenor
* women's choir
* instrumental ensemble

The Cantata by Igor Stravinsky is a work for soprano, tenor, female choir, and instrumental ensemble (of two flutes, oboe, cor anglais (doubling second oboe), and cello), and was composed from April 1951 to August 1952. The premiere performance on 11 November 1952 was by the Los Angeles (Chamber) Symphony Society (to whom the work is dedicated), conducted by Stravinsky himself. After completing the opera The Rake's Progress, Stravinsky felt the urge to compose another work setting English words, but in a non-dramatic form.[1]

The piece consists of the following movements:

1. "A lyke-wake dirge. Versus I. Prelude: 'This ae nighte'"
2. Ricercar I. "The maidens came"
3. "A lyke-wake dirge. Versus II. First interlude: 'If ever thou gav'st hos'n and shoon'"
4. Ricercar II. "Sacred History: 'To-morrow shall be my dancing day'"
5. "A lyke-wake dirge. Versus III. Second interlude: 'From Whinnymuir when thou may'st pass'"
6. "Westron Wind"
7. "A lyke-wake dirge. Versus IV. Postlude: 'If ever thou gav'st meat or drink'"

For his texts, Stravinsky chose four anonymous 15th- and 16th-century poems found in,[2], an anthology of poetry presented to him as a Christmas gift by W. H. Auden, the librettist of his opera The Rake's Progress.[3]

The dirge sections concern a soul's approach to and journey through purgatory. In between the verses of the dirge there are two ricercars (Ricercar I sets "The maidens came"; Ricercar II sets the carol "Tomorrow shall be my dancing day"), and a sixteenth-century song text, "Westron Wind".

## References

[edit]

1. ^ White, Eric Walter (1979). Stravinsky: The Composer and His Works (2nd ed.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press. pp. 468–9\. ISBN 0-520-03985-8.
2. ^ Auden, W.H.; Pearson, Norman Holmes, eds. (1950). Poets of the English Language. 5 vols. New York City: Viking. 1:426–31.
3. ^ Falby, Vern Clifford. 1987. "Music in and out of Words: Music, Language, and Stravinsky's Vocal Works of 1948–54. Ph.D. diss. College Park: University of Maryland. p. 319.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Burde, Wolfgang. 1994. "Igor Strawinskys Annäherung an die Reihentechnik". Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, no. 7 (April): 18–21.
* Carter, Chandler. 2010. "The Rake's Progress and Stravinsky’s Return: The Composer’s Evolving Approach to Setting Text". Journal of the American Musicological Society 63, no. 3 (Fall): 553–640.
* Cushman, D. Stephen. 2000. "Stravinsky's Lyke-wake Dirge Revisited: A Possible Source". In The Varieties of Musicology: Essays in Honor of Murray Lefkowitz. Detroit Monographs in Musicology/Studies in Music 29. Edited by John Daverio and John K Ogasapian, 167–74. Warren, MI: Harmonie Park. ISBN 0-89990-093-3.
* Garbutt, John, and Matthew Patterson. 1957. "An Approach to Stravinsky's 'Cantata' and 'The Wedding'". Music & Letters 38, no. 1 (January): 28–31.
* Ginsborg, Jane, Roger Chaffin, and George Nicholson. 2006. "Shared Performance Cues in Singing and Conducting: A Content Analysis of Talk During Practice". Psychology of Music 34, no. 2 (April): 167–94.
* Neidhöfer, Christoph. 2004. "A Case of Cross-fertilization: Serial and Non-serial Counterpoint in Stravinsky's Cantata (1951–52)". Tijdschrift voor muziektheorie 9, no. 2 (May): 87–104.
* Schechter, John M. 1970. "An Analysis of the Stravinsky Cantata: The Craft within the Style." M.Mus. thesis. Bloomington: Indiana University.
* Straus, Joseph N. 1999. "Stravinsky's 'Construction of Twelve Verticals': An Aspect of Harmony in the Serial Music". Music Theory Spectrum 21, no. 1 (Spring): 43–73.

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Igor Stravinsky

List of compositions
Discography

Operas and
musical dramas|

* The Nightingale
* Renard
* The Soldier's Tale
* Mavra
* Oedipus rex
* Perséphone
* The Rake's Progress
* The Flood

Ballets|

* The Firebird
* Petrushka
* The Rite of Spring (discography)
* Les noces
* Pulcinella
* Apollo
* The Fairy's Kiss
* Jeu de cartes
* Danses concertantes
* Scènes de ballet
* Orpheus
* Agon

Symphonies|

* Symphony in E♭
* Symphony of Psalms
* Symphony in C
* Symphony in Three Movements

Orchestral music|

* Scherzo fantastique
* Fireworks
* Funeral Song
* Four Études
* The Song of the Nightingale
* Circus Polka
* Ode
* Scherzo à la russe
* Greeting Prelude
* Variations: Aldous Huxley in memoriam
* Canon on a Russian Popular Tune

Concertos|

* Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments
* Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra
* Violin Concerto in D
* Concerto in E♭ ("Dumbarton Oaks")
* Ebony Concerto
* Movements for Piano and Orchestra
* Concerto in D

Solo
vocal|

* Pastorale
* Pribaoutki
* Berceuses du chat
* Abraham and Isaac
* Elegy for J.F.K.
* "The Owl and the Pussy Cat"

Choral|

* Zvezdoliki
* Ave Maria
* Babel
* Mass
* Cantata
* Canticum Sacrum
* Threni
* A Sermon, a Narrative, and a Prayer
* Requiem Canticles

Piano and
pianola|

* "Tarantella"
* Scherzo
* Piano Sonata in F♯ minor
* Four Études
* "Valse des fleurs"
* Three Easy Pieces
* Five Easy Pieces
* Étude for Pianola
* Piano-Rag-Music
* Les cinq doigts
* Three Movements from Petrushka
* Piano Sonata
* Serenade in A
* Concerto for Two Pianos
* Tango
* Sonata for Two Pianos
* Two Sketches for a Sonata

Chamber
music|

* Three Pieces for String Quartet
* Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet
* Lied ohne Name
* Octet
* Duo Concertant
* Elegy
* Septet
* Epitaphium
* Double Canon (in Memoriam Raoul Dufy)

Other|

* Symphonies of Wind Instruments
* Fanfare for a New Theatre

Arrangements|

* Bluebird Pas de Deux (from Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty)
* Monumentum pro Gesualdo

Family|

| Parents|

* Fyodor Stravinsky (father)

|

Wives|

* Yekaterina Nosenko (first)
* Vera Sudeikina (second)

Children|

* Soulima Stravinsky
* Théodore Strawinsky

Amanuensis|

* Robert Craft

Named for Stravinsky|

* 4382 Stravinsky
* Igor Stravinsky (river cruise ship)
* Stravinsky (crater)
* Stravinsky Fountain
* Stravinsky Inlet

Related|

* Earnest Andersson
* Ernest Ansermet
* George Balanchine
* Ballets Russes
* Nadia Boulanger
* Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (film)
* Jean Cocteau
* Sergei Diaghilev
* Samuel Dushkin
* Arthur Lourié
* Monday Evening Concerts
* New York City Ballet
* Pierre Monteux
* Neoclassicism
* Petrushka chord
* Psalms chord
* Charles Ferdinand Ramuz
* Werner Reinhart
* Serialism

* Category
* Audio

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* France
* BnF data

Other|

* MusicBrainz work
* BRAHMS

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