Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Octet
Sinfonia
Tema con variazione
Finale

Composed in Paris in 1922, Stravinsky’s Octet is an early product of his so-called "neo-classical" period, determinedly anti-romantic music written in the spirit of the baroque. It shares with the "Symphonies of Wind Instruments" (1920) a fascination with instrumental colour and a desire to avoid the conventional, lyrically expressive potential of string instruments. This approach to chamber music was radical in its time and provoked bemusement; it must surely have been the Octet of which Donald Tovey was thinking when he wrote, in the 1929 Encyclopaedia Britannica, that "the trombone and side drums in the chamber music of Stravinsky will do well enough in a very smart house-party where all the conversation is carried on in an esoteric family slang and the guests are expected to enjoy booby traps". But there is nothing cold or facetious about this music. Stravinsky’s own account of its creation, told to Robert Craft, reveals that, like any 19th-century romantic, he received his inspiration for the Octet in a dream; and – what he doesn’t say – the piece’s dedicatee, Vera de Bosset, had just become his mistress. The wife of the Ballets Russes designer Serge Soudeikine, her name was omitted from the first published edition of the score:

"The Octet began with a dream. I found myself in a small room surrounded by a small number of instrumentalists who were playing some very agreeable music. I did not recognize the music they played, and I could not recall any of it the next day, but I do remember my curiosity to know how many musicians played. I remember that after I had counted them to the number eight, I looked again and saw that they were playing bassoons, trombones, trumpets, a flute and a clarinet. I awoke from this little dream concert in a state of delight, and the next morning, I began to compose the Octet, a piece I had not so much as thought of the day before. The Octet was quickly composed. The first movement came first and then the waltz in the second movement. After writing the waltz, I realized that it would be a very good theme for variations. I then wrote the "ribbons of scales" variation as a prelude introduction to each of the other variations. The final variation, the fugato, is the culmination of everything I had attempted to do in the movement, and it is certainly the most interesting episode in the whole Octet. The point of the fugato is that the theme is played in rotation by the instrument pairs. The third movement grew out of the fugato and was intended as a contrast to the high-tension point of the whole piece. Perhaps I had Bach's Two Part Inventions in mind while composing this movement. The Octet is dedicated to Vera de Bosset."

R. G. Bratby 2002


Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2002
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