Stravinsky Suite Italienne for cello and piano

Analysis

Suite Italienne, from the ballet Pulcinella, is a "neo-baroque" composition from Igor Stravinsky.
Retaining most of the original melodies and bass lines from the Pergolesi selections, Stravinsky
provided more pungent harmonies, ostinato patterns, and slightly uneven phrase lengths. The
suite for piano and cello is composed by 5 pieces: Introduzione, Serenata, Aria, Tarantella,
Minuetto and Finale.
Introduzione is an allegro moderato piece written in tempo 4/4 characterized by pompous
themes. It’s based on three different themes played by both the instruments. As the piece is
written in G Major, the first theme is presented in G Major at the cello with up-beat. It has a very
strong and decisive character, which is accompanied at the piano with full chords. The theme is
exposed first at the cello and after at the piano as a reply. The period is composed by two
sentences of two bars each that lead to the new tonality of D Major. The second theme appears
two bars after the first theme finishes, and it’s a progression that creates a melodical dialog
between the two instruments. After three bars it leads us to the third theme, in the key of D
Major. It’s played first by the cello and then by the piano with a more bouncing character that
lasts six bars and leads us to the first theme again, but this time in D Major (the dominant). From
this point on, all the themes will be presented, with the same character but different tonalities or
in form of progression: we have the third theme again at bar 21 that takes to the tonality of B min,
followed by the second theme at bar 25 and the third theme again at bar 28 in B min. At bar 34, as
a sort of recapitulation, the first theme comes back at the cello in G Major. At bar 38 comes again
the second theme at the cello and from bar 41 till the end for the last time comes the third theme.
Here the piano exposes the theme for the last time and closes the piece.
Serenata is a larghetto piece in tempo siciliano (12/8) in C minor. It’s a charming and slightly
melancholic aria. It’s based on three very long phrases which all start the same and lead to
different thematic ideas. The first phrase starts with the beautiful theme at the cello from bar 1 to
bar 9. The piano accompanies the melody creating the harmonies with the tremolo at the right
hand. The first long thematic phrase is played by the cello for 8 bars and only for 1 bar at the piano
as a conclusion. For the first time we have here (bar 9) a clear perfect cadence in C minor. At bar
10 the cello starts another long phrase with the same theme in C minor that at bar 13 includes
new thematic ideas: it’s a kind of transition that leads to the double notes at the cello (bar 15). At
bar 17 the double notes end in Bb Major with pedal point at the left hand of the piano. After few
bars in Eb Major we are back in C minor at bar 23. Here starts the third phrase, this time with the
theme at the piano and the effect of repeated notes at the cello that imitate the tremolo of the
piano by making the bow bouncing very fast on the strings. This third phrase lasts 10 bars: after
the exposition of the theme at the piano, the cello is again protagonist at bar 26. At bar 28 there is
an espressivo part with double sixth again at the cello that make slowly the melody fade up. The
piece ends with the cello playing some harmonics and tremolo at the piano.
Aria is an allegro alla breve piece in G Major with Largo at the end. It is actually a Rondò piece and
the Aria comes at the end as Largo. In fact, all the first part (until the beginning of Largo) is a very
fast movement with a rhythmic and syncopated marcato theme that appears several times. We
can summarize its structure as A-B-A-C-A-D. It starts with three bars of chords at the cello,
followed by the theme at the piano in G Major. The first period lasts 14 bars. Here starts another
melodic idea (that we can called second theme) exposed by the cello in G minor. Here we have
again the sincopa at the cello and little small thematic fragments at the end of the period (as little
"codette"). The second period starts at bar 15 until bar 29. At bar 30 we hear again the first main
theme at the cello in G Major with a pesante accompaniment at the piano. The whole period lasts
again 15 bars. At the end we have three more bars that work as a kind of bridge that brings us to
the part C of the Rondò structure with a new melodic idea. The bridge creates a modulation from
G Major to the new tonality D minor. Here at bar 48 the cello exposes a new gypsy-like theme.
This period is a bit longer: in fact, after 14 bars there is a fermata on the dominant (we are still in D
minor) that leads to another small part that ends up again with the thematic fragments first at the
cello and then at the piano. These little fragments are always at the end of the B/C/D parts of the
Rondò and they always lead to the Rondò theme (A). At bar 72 starts the A part with the theme,
this time in D Major at the piano. This period lasts only 9 bars: at bar 81 starts a new part (D) again
with a new thematic idea repeated two times: the first time in C Major and the second time in D
Major. After that comes a marcato part that leads to another fermata. At bar 104 we find again
the little thematic fragments that end the section, first at the cello and then at the piano. Now,
surprisingly, the little cadences don’t lead to the section A, but to the Largo in C minor. Here the
tempo is 3/8 and the structure is A-B-Aˈ-Bˈ. The piano is the protagonist at the beginning: the
theme lasts 6 bars at the piano and 14 bars at the cello. At bar 19 of the Largo cello and piano start
together the melody that leads to the B part. Here we hear a second staccato and leggero theme
at the cello in Eb Major. The section lasts 23 bars. After that both the instruments play in ff a part
of the first theme in C minor that brings to a bridge: here starts the last part (Bˈ) with the second
theme in Eb minor, this time at the piano interposed by replies at the cello.
Tarantella is a vivace, very fast movement in 6/8 in Bb Major. Traditionally the tarantella is a fast
and jumping dance from south of Italy with rhythmical and melodical phrasings. It’s based on two
themes, with a A-B-Aˈ-Bˈ:II A-CODA structure. The first theme starts at the piano (after 4 bars of
introduction) that gives it to the cello after only three notes. After 15 bars comes the second
theme in the scale of A phrygian which lasts again 15 bars. Here we hear again the first theme at
the cello in F Major that starts again with the dominant. This section lasts 21 bars and leads to the
second theme, this time in the scale of D phrygian, that lasts 16 bars. Here we have again the first
theme for the last time in Bb Major. This last part is 21 bars long and it finishes with a coda that
turns the theme into the end of the movement in ff and staccatissimo.
Minuetto and Finale. Minuetto is a moderato piece in F Major. The theme is a simple melody in
tempo 3/8 that lasts 8 bars. The first phrase starts in F Major and ends in C Major and for the first
time in the whole piece it’s only played by piano without cello. At bar 9 starts the second phrase
with the same theme in F Major played by the cello with piano accompaniment. This phrase is,
accordingly to the classic structure of the minuetto, 16 bars long- the double of the previous one.
It goes from F Major to C Major/F minor and then again in F Major at bar 25 with the re-exposition
of the theme. Here the same thing happens again: we hear first the theme at the piano for 8 bars
and then the second phrase with the reply of the theme at the cello. The modulations are also
almost the same: from F Major to C Major and then in the second phrase from F Major to C Major
but here comes the difference: G minor. Here the double line in the score points out the end of
the second phrase. After that a new phrase of 12 bars plays the theme again, this time in G Major
and at the cello. The theme at the cello is overcome after three bars by the reply at the piano in a
sort of stretto finale (canon) that ends in a climax with accents and crescendo that leads to the
Finale.
Finale is a molto vivace movement in 2/4 in C Major. It’s based on two themes: the first is very
rhythmical and the second is melodical. Sometimes, as the piece doesn’t really have a defined
structure, the first theme comes again throughout the piece just as rhythmical elements and not
with the same melodic line. The movement starts with the first theme at the piano that lasts 14
bars. At bar 15 we hear the second theme in G Major at the piano for 8 bars, which is imitated
later at the cello. At bar 36 comes again the first theme in G Major at the cello (as mentioned
before, it’s more a repetition of the same rhythmical element of the theme rather than the same
theme). At bar 63 comes very clearly the second theme in C Major at the cello for 6 bars. Now we
hear again material from the first theme first at the piano (in E Major) and then at the cello (in A
Major). At bar 99 comes again the second theme at the cello in D Major for 6 bars and then again,
the same theme but in C Major. At bar 117, for the last time, we hear the first theme in C Major
from both the instruments in a longer phrase. This ostinato rhythmical theme in C Major ends the
suite.