Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson. Raymon O'Connell as the pianist.
I - (𝅘𝅥 = 80-160) - (𝅘𝅥 = 80) - (𝅘𝅥 = 160) - (𝅘𝅥 = 80) - (𝅗𝅥 = 80): 0:00
II - Andante (𝅘𝅥𝅮 = 76) - Più mosso (𝅘𝅥𝅮 = 92) - Tempo I (𝅘𝅥𝅮 = 76) - Interlude. L'istesso tempo - (attacca): 9:49
III - Con moto (𝅘𝅥 = 108) - Più presto (𝅘𝅥 = 144) - Meno mosso (Con moto 𝅘𝅥 = 108) - L'istesso tempo, tranquillo - Alla breve (𝅗𝅥 = 80): 16:00
Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements was composed between June 1942 and August 1945, a few months after the end of World War II. It was commissioned for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, to whom the work is dedicated. The work was initially conceived as an overture, not being described as a Symphony until relatively late. Stravinsky later thought it would be better renamed as "Three Symphonic Movements" or even "Concerto for Orchestra". It was premiered at Carnegie Hall on January 24 of 1946, performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer. It was first recorded four days later with the same orchestra, and in 1972 it was adapted as a ballet by Balanchine.
Stravinsky was a firm advocate for absolute music, he famously claimed that music in itself was incapable of expressing anything. However, in his symphony he admitted the inspiration of documentaries about the then-ongoing World War II, going as far as calling the work his "war symphony". The first movement was apparently inspired war films documenting scorched-earth tactics by the Japanese army in China, while the third was influenced by war footage of German goose-stepping soldiers and the news of the recent allied victories. On other occasions, the composer denied any direct extra-musical inspiration or the existence of a program. Stravinsky was also inspired by his previous works, as he revisited "The Rite of Spring" in an (incomplete) attempt to rescore it. The influence of the rite's dissonance and harshness is most notable in the outer movements.
When the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, Hollywood went to war as well, and film producer Louis B. Mayer soon commissioned Stravinsky to compose works for the wartime news footage his studio was churning out. Stravinsky was also invited by his Hollywood neighbour, author Franz Werfel, to write music for a film based on Werfel’s book "The Song of Bernadette". Although all of these projects were eventually scrapped (Werfel’s movie was released with Alfred Newman’s more conventional music), Stravinsky decided to use the themes he had developed for these projects into the piece. He adapted his war music for the outer movements, while the central movement was based on a theme he had written for the appearance of the Virgin Mary in "The Song of Bernadette".
The first movement is loosely structured in sonata form. It opens with a fiercely dissonant and violent introduction in F minor. The main theme (in the same key) is also menacing in tone, introduced in piano by woodwinds. Bitonality is widely used throughout the work, with part of the main theme revolving around A minor against E-flat major. The second theme, in G minor, is nearly as ruthlessly violent as the opening. The influence of "The Rite of Spring" on the basic material is clearly audible. A more solemn and expansive third theme is also bitonal in nature (G major and D-flat major). This exposition ends with a ferocious E minor cadence.
The development opens with fragments of the introductory and thematic material, largely bitonal as well but with brief moments anchored in B minor, D major and F major (this one coinciding with a reference to "The Firebird"). A series of fiercely dissonant chords seem to reference the climax of the first movement of Beethoven's Eroica. This development is interrupted by a rarefied pastoral episode in G major, then modulating to F major and D major. After an A minor transition, the main themes are recapitulated. The return of the introduction material in C minor signals the beginning of the coda, then restated in the original F minor. The movement then ends with a rather ambiguous C major chord.
[Musical analysis continued in the comments section].
Picture: Photograph of a crash landing of a U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat (Number 30) of Fighting Squadron 2 (VF-2) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), into the carrier's port side 20mm gun gallery, 10 November 1943.
Sources: tinyurl.com/yn2alvlc, tinyurl.com/yve23lju and tinyurl.com/ysyw8vb9
To check the score: tinyurl.com/2dq72qhs
Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson. Raymon O'Connell as the pianist.
I - (𝅘𝅥 = 80-160) - (𝅘𝅥 = 80) - (𝅘𝅥 = 160) - (𝅘𝅥 = 80) - (𝅗𝅥 = 80): 0:00
II - Andante (𝅘𝅥𝅮 = 76) - Più mosso (𝅘𝅥𝅮 = 92) - Tempo I (𝅘𝅥𝅮 = 76) - Interlude. L'istesso tempo - (attacca): 9:49
III - Con moto (𝅘𝅥 = 108) - Più presto (𝅘𝅥 = 144) - Meno mosso (Con moto 𝅘𝅥 = 108) - L'istesso tempo, tranquillo - Alla breve (𝅗𝅥 = 80): 16:00
Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements was composed between June 1942 and August 1945, a few months after the end of World War II. It was commissioned for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, to whom the work is dedicated. The work was initially conceived as an overture, not being described as a Symphony until relatively late. Stravinsky later thought it would be better renamed as "Three Symphonic Movements" or even "Concerto for Orchestra". It was premiered at Carnegie Hall on January 24 of 1946, performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer. It was first recorded four days later with the same orchestra, and in 1972 it was adapted as a ballet by Balanchine.
Stravinsky was a firm advocate for absolute music, he famously claimed that music in itself was incapable of expressing anything. However, in his symphony he admitted the inspiration of documentaries about the then-ongoing World War II, going as far as calling the work his "war symphony". The first movement was apparently inspired war films documenting scorched-earth tactics by the Japanese army in China, while the third was influenced by war footage of German goose-stepping soldiers and the news of the recent allied victories. On other occasions, the composer denied any direct extra-musical inspiration or the existence of a program. Stravinsky was also inspired by his previous works, as he revisited "The Rite of Spring" in an (incomplete) attempt to rescore it. The influence of the rite's dissonance and harshness is most notable in the outer movements.
When the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, Hollywood went to war as well, and film producer Louis B. Mayer soon commissioned Stravinsky to compose works for the wartime news footage his studio was churning out. Stravinsky was also invited by his Hollywood neighbour, author Franz Werfel, to write music for a film based on Werfel’s book "The Song of Bernadette". Although all of these projects were eventually scrapped (Werfel’s movie was released with Alfred Newman’s more conventional music), Stravinsky decided to use the themes he had developed for these projects into the piece. He adapted his war music for the outer movements, while the central movement was based on a theme he had written for the appearance of the Virgin Mary in "The Song of Bernadette".
The first movement is loosely structured in sonata form. It opens with a fiercely dissonant and violent introduction in F minor. The main theme (in the same key) is also menacing in tone, introduced in piano by woodwinds. Bitonality is widely used throughout the work, with part of the main theme revolving around A minor against E-flat major. The second theme, in G minor, is nearly as ruthlessly violent as the opening. The influence of "The Rite of Spring" on the basic material is clearly audible. A more solemn and expansive third theme is also bitonal in nature (G major and D-flat major). This exposition ends with a ferocious E minor cadence.
The development opens with fragments of the introductory and thematic material, largely bitonal as well but with brief moments anchored in B minor, D major and F major (this one coinciding with a reference to "The Firebird"). A series of fiercely dissonant chords seem to reference the climax of the first movement of Beethoven's Eroica. This development is interrupted by a rarefied pastoral episode in G major, then modulating to F major and D major. After an A minor transition, the main themes are recapitulated. The return of the introduction material in C minor signals the beginning of the coda, then restated in the original F minor. The movement then ends with a rather ambiguous C major chord.
[Musical analysis continued in the comments section].
Picture: Photograph of a crash landing of a U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat (Number 30) of Fighting Squadron 2 (VF-2) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), into the carrier's port side 20mm gun gallery, 10 November 1943.
Sources: tinyurl.com/yn2alvlc, tinyurl.com/yve23lju and tinyurl.com/ysyw8vb9
To check the score: tinyurl.com/2dq72qhs
