Igor Stravinsky Neoclassical Period

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Russian composer, pianist and conductor, is one of the most prominent and well-known composers of the twentieth century. A master of stylistic diversity and having composed in a range of genres, Stravinsky’s works can be divided into three major periods: his Russian period (1907-1919), his Neoclassical period (1920-1954), and his Serial period (1954-1968). His Neoclassical period was the longest of the three and the most significant. Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements (1945), composed during this period, was his first major composition after moving to the United States in 1939. As the title reveals, this 20-25-minute work is made up of of three movements: Mvt. I: Overture; Allegro, Andante; Mvt. II: Interlude
Once hailed for L’Oiseau de feu, Petrushka, Sacre du printemps, and Les noces, many of his works composed in the 1930s were not well received by audiences. Upset by this, and overwhelmed with the onset of World War II, Stravinsky desperately wanted to leave Europe and go to America where there was order and peace. Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Symphony, and written between the years 1942 and 1945, Symphony in Three Movements is the first work of Stravinsky’s to be composed once Stravinsky became a citizen of the United States. Stravinsky claimed himself that 1945, the year he completed this symphony, marked a turning point in his career as a composer. Completed a few months after the war, and commissioned as a “War Symphony,” it is clear that this work was influenced by and refers to World War II. Stravinsky claims, “Each episode in the Symphony is linked in my imagination with a concrete impression, very often cinematographic in origin, of the
Overall, the work calls back to classical forms such as sonata-form and ternary form. Although influenced by World War II and even though this work contains musical material that refers to the war, Stravinsky claims that the work is non-programmatic, and simply music in and of itself, with an objective, detached style. Stravinsky’s work also calls back to his earlier works and contains distinct Russian elements. Overall, the work contains the type of rhythmic intensity, ostinato, dissonance, syncopation, irregular and changing meters, syncopation and repetitive rhythmic patterns found in Sacre du printemps. Stravinsky set about to revise this work in 1943, making its influence on Symphony in Three Movements obvious. Stravinsky uses the octatonic scale, also known as the “Russian scale,” which “defies internally motivated ‘progress’ or ‘development’ along traditional tonal lines.” This work also contains characteristic compositional methods, such as superimpositions of and/or oscillations between chromatic and/or cross-related chords, registrally fixing repeated figures, cellular melodies, and his technique of abruptly terminating, interlocking, or juxtaposing blocks of materials.” Combining these different elements, plus other compositional techniques and ideas, creates a piece that is a balance of contrasts. All of these musical elements will be further