A gentle nod towards history

Violin + Viola + Bass

Program Notes: Stravinsky, hands-down my favorite composer of the 20th century, also happens to be, historically speaking, one of the most important as well. One of the things I admire about him, aside from his considerable contribution to the advancement of modernist aesthetic in music over the past century, is the way in which he perceives the concept of time and duration in music. Study any of his scores, and it will quickly become apparent that Stravinsky liked to play with time, often using a non-linear approach to do so. Something like a mix between a cubist painter and a DJ, Stravinsky thrived on taking somewhat disparate elements of a certain subject, and melding or “splicing” them together with completely unrelated material, often creating something radically different and new in the process. The basic framework of the piece is taken from a movement of Stravinsky’s own L’Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier’s Tale), along with imitative references to such works as the Violin Concerto, Le Sacre du Printempts, and Petrouska.