Igor Stravinsky - Violin Concerto in D (1931) [with score]

Concerto in D - for violin and orchestra Written by Igor Stravinsky in 1931

Performed by Itzhak Perlman and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa

00:00​ - I. Toccata
05:52​ - II. Aria I
10:10​ - III. Aria II
15:50​ - IV. Capriccio

Early in the compositional process, Stravinsky devised a chord which stretches from D4 to E5 to A6. One day while he and Dushkin were having lunch in a Paris restaurant, he sketched the chord on a napkin for the violinist, who thought the chord unplayable, to Stravinsky's disappointment. On returning home, however, Dushkin tried it out on his violin and was surprised to discover it was actually quite easy to play. He immediately telephoned Stravinsky to say that it could be played after all. The composer later referred to this chord as his "passport to the Concerto".(Dushkin 1949, 182) Stravinsky began sketching the Concerto in Paris early in 1931, with composition beginning in earnest in Nice, where the first two movements were completed and the third begun. In the summer, Stravinsky moved to the Château de la Véronnière in Voreppe in Isère, where he completed the third movement and wrote all of the fourth (White 1979, 369). The manuscripts are dated May 20, 1931 for the first two movements and June 10, 1931 for the third, all in Nice, with no date given for the fourth. The full orchestral score is signed and dated "Voreppe (Isère) la Vironnière, 13/25. Sept. 1931" (White 1979, 368). Though Stravinsky told his publisher he wanted to write "a true virtuoso concerto", "the texture is always more characteristic of chamber music than orchestral music" (V. Stravinsky and Craft 1978, 306). He also observed "I did not compose a cadenza, not because I did not care about exploiting violin virtuosity, but because the violin in combination was my real interest. But virtuosity for its own sake has only a small role in my Concerto, and the technical demands of the piece are relatively tame" (Stravinsky and Craft 1963, 80).

[johnpcomposer]

Along with the Symphony of Psalms among the best of Stravinsky's works.

[robbyr]

Awesome- new to me. The Arias are the first time I recall hearing these more continuous slower textures in Stravinsky's work.

[philzmusic]

Stravinsky at his wittiest and most charming.

[wyrdingroom]

ahhh..
what a fresh breath of metal!
thx, Stravinsky!
keep up the great work!
🤘

[jedtulman]

Perhaps his greatest expression in the neo classical format

[ethanblackburn]

Thanks for posting. A lovely concerto.

[theclarinetjooddsandends]

That's weird, my score indicates the quarter note at 120 bpm for the first movement. Hillary Hahn plays at that speed with Neville Mariner and St Martin in the Fields.
At such a slow pace it's really bizarre

[KenNickels]

Also a dance production by Balanchine, part of the New York City Ballet repertoire.

[averysax]

The new music Tonal Scale is as thus: 12 7 5 2 3 : 1 4 5 9 14
Not 12 with 7 & 5 BUT 14 with 9 & 5 [2^(1/14)]

These are the Tonal Scales growing from f (by cycles of fifths):
All Scales build from the first mode: equivalent to Lydian f
White keys are = & Black keys are |
12 with 7 & 5 [2^(1/12)] =|=|=|==|=|= {1, 8, 3, 10, 5, 12, 7, 2, 9, 4, 11, 6} 1thru7are= 8thru12are|
7 with 5 & 2 [2^(1/7)] ===|==| {1, 3, 5, 7, 2, 4, 6} 1thru5are= 6&7are|
5 with 2 & 3 [2^(1/5)] =||=| {1, 3, 5, 2, 4} 1&2are= 3thru5are|
Now evolving up the other end
5 with 4 & 1 [2^(1/5)] ==|== {1, 3, 5, 2, 4} 1thru4are= 5is|
9 with 5 & 4 [2^(1/9)] =|=|=|==| {1, 8, 3, 7, 5, 9, 2, 4, 6} 1thru5are= 6thru9are|
14 with 9 & 5 [2^(1/14)] =|=|===|=|===| {1, 12, 3, 14, 5, 7, 9, 11, 2, 13, 4, 6, 8, 10} 1thru9are= 10thru14are|

Joseph Yasser is the actual originator of the realization,
that scales develop by cycles of fifths.
The chromatic scale we use today is divided by 2^(1/12) twelfth root of two
Instead of moving to the next higher: the 19 tone scale 2^(1/19) nineteenth root of two
I decided to go all the way down and back up the other end:
So 12 - 7 = 5 & 7 - 5 = 2 & 5 - 2 = 3
Now we enter to the other side:
2 - 3 = -1 & 3 - -1 = 4 & -1 - 4 = -5 & 4 - -5 = 9 & -5 - 9 = -14
ignoring the negatives we have 1 4 5 9 14
Just follow the cycles how each scale is weaved together, as shown above.
Each scale has its own division within the frequency doubling,
therefore the 14 tones scale is 2^(1/14) fourteenth root of two

[molocious]

As a commemoration of the end of WWII and a gift, Hemingway dropped of a box of unexploded grenades at Picasso's door in Paris. Picasso probably told Stravinsky about the strange gift, and Stravinsky alluded to it by the bullfight in the last movement of his Violin Concerto in D (or such is the way I arbitrarily reconstruct diffusion paths without any evidence whatsoever. No doubt, I'll be thrashed for my assault on veracity along with Trump and the alt-right).