Stravinsky's Three Movements Symphony

Author: Stravinsky
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2004-04-01
Features: The creative intention behind the "Three Movements for Orchestra" was the same as that for the ballet "Petrushka," meaning that after completing "The Firebird" in 1910, Stravinsky intended to compose a symphonic work with the piano playing a leading role—a "concert piece." Alexander Tansman recalled that in 1942, Stravinsky had played some of the music later used in the "Three Movements for Orchestra" to him, and he felt that this music seemed like "a symphony with a piano concerto movement." Stravinsky also confirmed this statement: "I then thought this work should be a concert for orchestra. A year later, in 1934, poet and playwright Franz Werfel invited Stravinsky to compose music for his film 'The Song of the Earth.'" Although Stravinsky wrote a harp solo for the unfinished film's "The Virgin Appears," dissatisfaction with the arrangements and the creative conditions led him to reject the project in the end. He used the material he had written for the second movement of this symphony.