2/12/11 – Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
The Church knew what the psalmist knew: Music praises God. Music is well or better able to praise him than the building of the church and all its decoration; it is the Church's greatest ornament. – Igor Stravinsky
Once again, apologies for changing the schedule if anyone is keeping track – today was supposed to originally be Haydn’s oratorio The Creation. However, I’m short on time this weekend and not ahead of schedule as I originally hoped I would be and opted to go with a shorter work for today… that’s not in German. If you were looking for some of my insights into Haydn, either check out last month’s bit on the “Surprise” Symphony, or if you’re looking for The Creation in particular, you may have to wait until November… when today’s Stravinsky was originally scheduled. Sorry!
Stravinsky’s use of tonality always fascinates me, and this piece is no exception. From the use of the octatonic scale to the jarringly simple E-minor chord punctuating the opening of the first movement, his work is constantly both powerful and elegant. The pairing of the unison lines octaves apart is also simple and cold in a stoic sort of way that captures one’s attention from the onset of the work. The simple wavering half steps of the melody capture the essence of the text being sung; an anguished cry to God of “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and with thine ears consider my calling. Hold not thy peace at my tears.” (Psalms 39:13)
I would be remiss to venture any further without noting one of the particular anomalies of this great choral work commissioned for the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1930. Despite the fact that the orchestra had sizably expanded from previous eras by Stravinsky’s time, Symphony of Psalms is written without employing the clarinets and more notably the violins and viola sections at all. The upper strings, which more often than not are the backbone of the orchestra, are completely absent. While some would see this as a limiting factor, I believe it freed Stravinsky to explore timbral possibilities in a newer light – by eliminating the “default,” he was forced to create a tonal palate from scratch, if you will. Furthermore, the pleading character of the first movement in particular lends itself to the more strained qualities of the celli being brought up into their extreme high register. The man’s a genius – what can I say?
The second movement begins with a beautiful double fugue throughout the upper woodwinds before the upper voices come in with the text, now from Psalm 40. The nature of the fugue naturally obscures the text to some degree, but this can be seen as symbolic of the text; “He brought me also out of the horrible pit, out of the mire and clay.” As the movement develops, the voices find there way “out of the pit,” into a combination of homophonic chorales and unison lines. The unisons, as Stravinsky was often prone to do, are often stretched out across three octaves and sung with as little vibrato as possible giving it a hollow yet powerful sound.
The final movement opens with a very exposed choral “Alleluia,” but as opposed to an overblown exuberant exclamation, this is a soft subdued whisper, evoking rather wonder and awe in the presence of the Almighty. Yet the octave statements of “Laudate” (or “praise”) are darker and more somber in this (once again) very Russian sounding movement. The largest movement of the three, this one uses nearly the entirety of Psalm 150’s text. The “Alleluia” motif that comes back often remains unchanged, yet the context is always changing. I question at times Stravinsky’s restraint throughout this movement. While the music is beautiful, it seems so striking to pair texts like “Praise him with the trumpet, praise him with the strings and pipe. Praise him upon the cymbals…” without employing these sounds. Almost to the point of defiant. Again, I find it hard to argue with this great master and find his work to be among the best music of the past 100 years, but this one point I don’t seem to come to terms with.
Again, apologies for the Haydn. I’m sure it’s a wonderful piece. Eventually, I’ll come around to it. J
Tomorrow – Virtuoso (Joe Pass
Next week – Leontyne Price Sings Barber
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