-Composer: Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971)
-Orchestra: London Sinfonietta
-Conductor: Esa-Pekka Salonen
Symphonies of Wind instruments [Symphonies d’instruments à vent], written in 1920, revised in 1947
If we discount the tribute that Igor Stravinsky composed in 1908 on the occasion of the death of his beloved teacher Rimsky-Korsakov (the work was lost during the Revolution, found in 2015), the composer’s long string of In memoria — by which he pays homage to some of the foremost musical, literary, and even political figures of the twentieth century — begins in 1920 with the Symphonies of Wind Instruments, dedicated to the memory of Claude Debussy.
Here Stravinsky consciously used the term symphonies in the old French meaning of a sonorous piece, as in “Symphonies and Fanfares for the King’s Supper.” The composition dates from 1920 and grew from a short chorale-like work he wrote in Debussy’s memory; this became the last section of a work about 10 minutes in length, composed for a rather large ensemble of 23 winds. The style and melodism of the work usually results in its being listed as the last of the composer’s “Russian Period” works, but because of its austerity this writer tends to regard it as being the first important indication that Stravinsky was ready to shift to an aesthetic that leaves behind sensual appeal. He would soon find the style of neo-Classicism; meantime, there is a sense that the idea behind the work is the realization of the harmonic clashes that result from Stravinsky’s usual method of mixing two separate chords. The work is of more than just historical interest; Stravinsky was constantly treading new ground here, with effective even if not lovable music. The score was revised in 1947, presumably to obtain copyright for the composer in the U.S.
Obviously the sound of a piece for 23 woodwinds is something that the audience at the 1921 London premiere of the work (with Serge Koussevitzky at the helm) found quite disconcerting (many audiences today still find it so), but coincident with that textural streamlining is an even more significant and startling architectural streamlining: the entire work is based on a handful of sharply defined themes and motives that Stravinsky makes little or no attempt to connect in any way; he instead chooses to isolate them via a very careful and almost thematic use of silence. As a result of this trimming of “extraneous” detail, the work is extremely brief.
description: [allmusic.com]