The Mentor: Russian Music, Vol. 4, Num. 18, Serial No. 118, November 1, 1916

RUSSIAN MUSIC
Igor Stravinsky

SIX

Igor Stravinsky was a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov. One day the young composer played for his teacher a few bars of the music of one of his ballets. The older man halted him suddenly: “Look here,” said he. “Stop playing that horrid thing; otherwise I might begin to enjoy it!” This ballet was one of the works that made Stravinsky famous. Igor Stravinsky was born on June 17, 1882, at Oranienbaum, near Petrograd, Russia. The date of his birth has been disputed, but this date is the one given by Stravinsky himself. He was the son of Fedor Ignatievich Stravinsky, the celebrated singer who was associated with the Imperial (Maryinsky) Theater in Petrograd. Igor was destined to study law, but at the age of nine he was already giving proofs of a natural musical bent; and in particular he showed an aptitude for piano playing. To the study of this instrument he devoted a great deal of time, under the instruction of a pupil of Rubinstein.

In 1902, when Stravinsky was twenty years old, he met Rimsky-Korsakov at Heidelberg – a meeting which marked an epoch in his life. The older composer had much influence on the career of Stravinsky. Their views on music differed greatly, however.

Stravinsky worked hard. He attended concerts, visited museums and read widely. Rimsky-Korsakov, though alarmed at the revolutionary tendencies of his pupil, predicted for him great success. During the years 1905 and 1906 Stravinsky worked at orchestration. At this time his friends were members of the group surrounding Rimsky-Korsakov, including Glazounov and César-Cui.

On January 11, 1906, Stravinsky married. Soon after his marriage he finished a symphony which was performed in 1907 and was published later. Following this, in 1908, came his “Scherzo Fantastique,” which was inspired by a reading of Maeterlinck’s “Life of the Bee.”

When Rimsky-Korsakov’s daughter was married in 1908 Stravinsky sent his composition, “Fire Works,” a symphonic fantasia, which, curiously, had been submitted for the approval of an English manufacturer of Chinese crackers. However, before the gift arrived by mail Rimsky-Korsakov died. As a tribute to his master’s memory Stravinsky composed the Chant Funèbre.

In 1909 Stravinsky wrote “The Nightingale,” a combination of opera and ballet, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name. This was produced in 1914.

Then came the discovery of Stravinsky by the director of the Russian ballet, Serge de Diaghileff. The young composer was commissioned to write a ballet on a Russian folk story, the scenario of which was furnished by Michel Fokine. Leon Bakst and Golovine, the scene painters, collaborated with him. This ballet, “The Fire Bird,” was finished on May 18, 1910, and produced three weeks later. This production established Stravinsky’s reputation in Paris.

The second of his ballets, “Petrouschka,” was completed on May 26, 1911. It was first produced in Paris in the same year. The scene of Petrouschka is a carnival. One of the characters is a showman, and in his booth are three animated dolls. In the center is one with pink cheeks and a glassy stare. On one side of this is a fierce negro, and on the other the simple Petrouschka. These three play out a tragedy of love and jealousy, which ends with the shedding of Petrouschka’s vital sawdust. One critic has said: “This ballet is, properly speaking, a travesty of human passion, expressed in terms of puppet gestures and illumined by music as expositor. The carnival music is a sheer joy, and the incidents making a demand upon music as a depictive medium have been treated not merely with marvelous skill, but with unfailing instinct for the true satirical touch. ‘Petrouschka’ is, in fact, the musical presentment of Russian fantastic humor in the second generation.”

“The Crowning of Spring” was composed during the winter of 1912 and 1913, and was produced both in Paris and London during the following spring and summer.

Recently Stravinsky has composed several songs which are done in the same spirit as that in which he wrote his compositions for the orchestra.

RUSSIAN MUSIC

So far as the world at large is concerned, Russian music – which has come so much to the fore in recent years – began with Rubinstein, who lived till 1894. There was, indeed, one other composer of note before him – Glinka – but Glinka’s music, though very popular in Russia, remained almost unknown in other countries, whereas Rubinstein, and, after him, Tchaikovsky (also spelled Tschaikowsky), conquered the whole world.

Folk music, it is needless to say, flourished many centuries before Glinka. Folk tunes are like wild flowers, and in all countries the composers have heard the “call of the wild” and tried to woo these flowers and bring them to their gardens. This is particularly true of Russia, which has an abundance of folk songs that are unsurpassed in beauty and emotional appeal; indeed, Rubinstein and another eminent composer, César Cui (kwee), claim absolute supremacy for their country in the matter of national melodies. The tremendous size of the Empire, including, as it does, one-sixth of all the land on this globe, gives scope for an unparalleled variety of local color in songs, suggesting the great difference in costumes and customs. Asiatic traits are mingled with the European. Many of the songs are sad, as is to be expected in a populace often subjected to barbarian invasions, as well as to domestic tyranny; but perhaps an equal number are merry, with a gaiety as extravagant as the melancholy of the songs that are in the minor mode. As a rule, Russian peasants seem to prefer singing in groups to solo singing. There are many singing games; some of the current songs are of gypsy origin; and we find in the collections of Russian folk music (the best of which have been made by Balakiref and Rimsky-Korsakov) an endless variety, devoted to love, flattery, grief, war, religion, etc. Eugenie Lineff’s “Peasant Songs of Great Russia” (transcribed from phonograms) gives interesting samples and descriptions. Lineff’s choir has been heard in America.