Lexie Rowland

March 29, 2021

MUS 319

Stravinsky Score Analysis

1. Background

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was a Russian-born composer, who spent most of his life in

Paris and the United States1. Stravinsky did not initially plan a musical career as his father did so

and discouraged his son from doing the same, so he went to law school before deciding to fully

commit to music2. Stravinsky had a very prolific career that resulted in vastly different

compositions that are often categorized into three periods: Russian (1907-1919), Neoclassical

(1920-1954), and Serial (1954-1968)3. Most of the works that Stravinsky is known for come

from his Russian period. His Russian period was characterized by Russian folk quotations and

harmonies, as well as influences from Eastern European composers. Stravinsky was also

influenced by the Mighty Five as his composition instructor was Rimsky-Korsakov4. While

Arnold Schoenberg was known for advocating “the emancipation of dissonance,” Stravinsky

experimented with “the emancipation of rhythm.” Because of this, Stravinsky’s music is often

characterized by difficult rhythmic patterns and “obsessive ostinatos.5”

1
"Igor Stravinsky." Music and the Holocaust. 2020. https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/politics-and-
propaganda/igor-stravinsky/.
2
“Igor Stravinsky”
3
“Igor Stravinsky”
4
“Igor Stravinsky”
5
Howard, Orrin. "L'Histoire Du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale) (Igor Stravinsky)." LA Phil.
Accessed March 29, 2021. https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/4862/lhistoire-du-soldat-the-
soldiers-tale.
 L’Histoire du Soldat (1918) is a “theater-piece6” that was written at the cusp of

Stravinsky’s transition between his Russian and Neoclassical periods. The piece was for seven

musicians (clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, percussion, violin, and bass), three narrators,

and a dancer7. At the time of this composition, World War I was ending, and the Russian

Revolution was in high action8. Because of this, Stravinsky was struggling personally and

financially9 as he was fully cut off from his family. This inspired Stravinsky to create a theater-

piece that had only a few performers, meaning it could tour at low cost10. Unfortunately, by the

time the tour was supposed to begin the Spanish Flu hit Switzerland, where Stravinsky was

living at the time, and all of the performances were cancelled11.

L’Histoire du Soldat was inspired by the work of Faust and follows a soldier who makes

a deal with the devil12. “The soldier- it does not matter which country or army he is from- battles

the devil and even wins a few rounds, but the ultimate triumph must belong to the devil.”13 The

piece begins and ends with a march, and it features a variety of dances, the most famous of

6
Bromberger, Eric. "Program Note: L'Histoire Du Soldat." The Santa Fe Symphony. Accessed
March 29, 2021. https://santafesymphony.org/lhistoire-du-soldat/.
7
Bromberger, “L’Histoire du Soldat”
8
Bromberger
9
Howard, “L’Histoire du Soldat”
10
Bromberger, “L’Histoire du Soldat”
11
Bromberger
12
Suter, Anthony. "About STRAVINSKY's Histoire Du Soldat." Redlands Symphony. Accessed
March 29, 2021. https://www.redlandssymphony.com/pieces/histoire-du-soldat.
13
Bromberger, “L’Histoire du Soldat”
which is “Dance of the Devil.14” This dance is towards the end and foreshadows the ultimate

victory of the devil that occurs in “Triumphant March of the Devil.15”

2. Analysis

While the original version of this piece was intended for seven musicians (clarinet,

bassoon, trumpet, trombone, percussion, violin, and bass), our version will include the following

parts: flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, percussion, violin, and viola. This

means that treble, alto, and bass clefs are used and should be known, as well as the transpositions

of B-flat and F. The advantage of either version of the piece is that most of the parts are concert

pitched instruments, so relatively speaking there is not a lot of transposing required. There are no

written dynamics in our version of this piece, but there are implied dynamics in the orchestration.

The piece begins with participation from all, gradually thinning out until measure 30, when just

the flute, clarinet, tuba, and drums are playing. This beginning section is very aggressive and

heavy, but by measure 12, the first compound meter measure, the aggressiveness fades out with

the implied dynamics until the piece is a buoyant type of heavy. At measure 37 other parts begin

joining again, but the tutti is short lived because in measure 49 the flute part contains a repeated

sixteenth note pattern while the rest of the group passes around one of the motives that was

introduced in the beginning of the piece. At 59 the aggression returns at full force as the

recapitulation begins and ideas from the beginning of the piece rule over other parts. This all

leads to a massive hit that ends the piece without full satisfaction, as the compound meter section

in the middle of the piece causes the listener and performer to lose their bearings, making the

recapitulation and ending somewhat abrupt.

14
Suter, “Histoire Du Soldat”
15
Suter
 One of the biggest challenges of conducting this piece is the number of meter changes.

Measures 36-42 are particularly hard as the meter changes every measure. Keeping track of all of

the meter changes take up a lot of mental space, so it makes adding the left hand in a meaningful

way hard too. What I find the most difficult from all of these meter changes is mentally keeping

track of simple versus compound meters, as well as how the compound measures are split into

beats of 2 or 3. Also, since this is a true Stravinsky piece with its desires to “emancipate

rhythm,” it is extremely easy to let the sounds coming from the ensemble get you off track as the

conductor. Many sections, particularly compound metered sections, feel almost meterless so

once getting off track it can be hard to get back on. All of this makes me as a conductor want to

ignore the ensemble so I can ensure that I remain on track, but then the group might as well try to

lead themselves with a metronome as there is no longer someone in front of them trying to

interpret their performance and indicate changes. This piece is also generally difficult because up

until this point in conducting classes we have not conducted more than two pages worth of

music, which we can just place side-by-side on the stand, and we have typically only had four

different parts. This piece is a full piece, as opposed to an excerpt, so the score is long enough

that page turns are required. In addition to this, there are a lot more parts to worry about

coordinating- three times as many parts as we typically have had.

One of the biggest ensemble and rehearsal issues is that this piece is not particularly

melodic so it is hard for performers to hear their part in other instruments, removing the potential

confirmation that they are in the right spot. Because of this, it is hard for the ensemble to sound

confident; thus, the sound tends to be weaker. Similarly to the conducting challenges, the

constant changes in meter create a major challenge for the ensemble. At certain points during the
compound meter sections, different instruments actually split measures differently (2+3 versus

3+2).

3. Discography

 L’Histoire du Soldat

o Released: 2018

o Format: CD

o Label: harmonia mundi (2017-2018)

 Stravinsky: Octet & L’Histoire du Soldat

o Released: 2013

o Format: CD

o Recorded by: Eastman School of Music

 Bibliography

Bromberger, Eric. "Program Note: L'Histoire Du Soldat." The Santa Fe Symphony. Accessed
March 29, 2021. https://santafesymphony.org/lhistoire-du-soldat/.

Howard, Orrin. "L'Histoire Du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale) (Igor Stravinsky)." LA Phil. Accessed
March 29, 2021. https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/4862/lhistoire-du-soldat-the-soldiers-
tale.

"Igor Stravinsky." Music and the Holocaust. 2020. https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/politics-and-

propaganda/igor-stravinsky/.

Suter, Anthony. "About STRAVINSKY's Histoire Du Soldat." Redlands Symphony. Accessed

March 29, 2021. https://www.redlandssymphony.com/pieces/histoire-du-soldat.