Symphony of Psalms 2 Igor Stravinsky

Learning Objectives To be able to identify the Neoclassical features of the music To analyse the music in detail

Musical influences Neoclassical Russian Orthodox Tonality – frequent return to C major chord, V-I movement bars 3-7 Broken chords bar 150, plus canon between voices Often slow, static Some chant-like writing 163-end!

20th Century influences Strong dissonance e.g. 48-49 (what is the chord? what is the bass note?) What is the key at the start for the orchestra? What about the choir? What is this called? Instrumentation, notably piano Ostinato – find an example 14-19 163-204 Syncopation – find an example

Instrumentation Find some instrumental effects

Psalm 148 alleluia laudate Dominum de caelis laudate eum in excelsis laudate eum omnes angeli eius laudate eum omnes virtutes eius laudate eum sol et luna laudate eum omnes stellae et lumen laudate eum caeli caelorum et aqua quae super caelum est laudent nomen Domini quia ipse dixit et facta sunt ipse mandavit et creata sunt statuit ea in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi praeceptum posuit et non praeteribit laudate Dominum de terra dracones et omnes abyssi ignis grando nix glacies spiritus procellarum quae faciunt verbum eius montes et omnes colles ligna fructifera et omnes cedri bestiae et universa pecora serpentes et volucres pinnatae reges terrae et omnes populi principes et omnes iudices terrae iuvenes et virgines senes cum iunioribus laudent nomen Domini quia exaltatum est nomen eius solius confessio eius super caelum et terram et exaltabit cornu populi sui hymnus omnibus sanctis eius filiis Israhel populo adpropinquanti sibi

Text Setting How does Stravinsky set the word Alleluia? How is this different to what you might expect? Places he avoids word-painting: 87-94 trumpet 150-153 drums 153-163 organ 165 cymbals 187 everything (p dynamic?!) “In setting the words of this final hymn [from bar 163] I cared only for the sounds of the syllables and I have indulged to the limit my besetting pleasure of regulating prosody in my own way”

Text Setting 2 Syllabic? Melismatic? Something else? Accents on some syllables? Are they to express the meaning or for some other reason?

Texture Beginning? Bar 4? Bar 7? Compare other instances of this word Bar 55 voices 150-160 describe what is happening Ostinato What do you notice about the spacing of the final chord?

[bars 40-47] was inspired by a vision of Elijah’s chariot climbing the heavens… never before had I written anything quite so literal as the triplets… to suggest the horses and chariots. Structure Describe the sections

Structure What happens to the 6- note horn motif at 24 when it is repeated at 32, 37 and 40? Where does the Laudate Dominum in 65 come from? How is it different? Does this idea appear again?

Structure Bars Section Description 1-3 Alleluia Slow 4-23 Laudate C major chord for DOMINUM 24-51 Instrumental 6 repeated notes figure. Triplets=Horses and chariots 52-98 65 6-note figure out by a quaver 99-103 104-146 Builds to main climax 146-149 Link Slower 150-162 Imitative 163-204 Chant 205-end

Tonality What is the principal tonal centre? Bar 2-6, 9-20 what key are the voice parts in? What about the orchestra? Two possibilities for analysing this! Bitonal (Eb and C) C Aeolian What’s up with the big chords at 48? 150-156 What is suggested by the BTrb/Dbsn? What are the chords above them? 199 What key are the oboes in? What about everyone else?

Harmony Dissonance – e.g. bar 3 G/Ab, 48, 144 V-I bass at start (do we get this again?) Find an example of where a chord changes over an ostinato Find some nice consonant chords How does Stravinsky resolve the tonal tension at the end?

Melody Development of motifs e.g. bar 24 repeated notes idea Find examples of this idea: Can you see how Stravinsky has constructed the melody of 4- 11 using this motif? Comment on the soprano part in 53-64 and 163-174 Find a conjunct melody and a disjunct melody for voices

Melody 2 150 disjunct – broken chords. Are these easy to sing? 161 sopranos!! Intervals? Bar 157 sopranos – what is this type of scale? Find a chromatic scale 72 oboes

Rhythm Sometimes static, slow minim movement (influence of Orthodox chant) Contrast this with bar 24 Syncopation Triplets for chariots and horses Time signature changes 163 How long is the ostinato pattern? What is the time signature? What effect does this have?

2014 test 10s