| Symphony of Psalms | |
|---|---|
| Choral symphony byIgor Stravinsky | |
 | |
| Text | Psalms39,40, and150 |
| Language | Latin |
| Composed | 1930 |
| Movements | Three |
| Scoring | Orchestra andMixedchorus |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 13 December 1930 (1930-12-13) |
| Location | Brussels, Belgium |
| Conductor | Ernest Ansermet |
| Performers | Société Philharmonique de Bruxelles |
TheSymphony of Psalms is achoral symphony in threemovements composed byIgor Stravinsky in 1930 during hisneoclassical period. The work was commissioned bySerge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of theBoston Symphony Orchestra. The symphony derives its name from the use ofPsalm texts in the choral parts.
According to Stravinsky, the commission for the work came about from "a routine suggestion"[citation needed] from Koussevitzky, who was also Stravinsky's publisher, that he write something "popular"[citation needed] for orchestra without chorus. Stravinsky, however, insisted on the psalm-symphony idea, which he had had in mind for some time. The choice ofPsalm 150, however, was in part because of the popularity of that text. The symphony was written in Nice, and Echarvines nearTalloires, which was Stravinsky's summer home in those years.[1] The three movements are performed without break, and the texts sung by the chorus are drawn from theVulgate versions inLatin. Unlike many pieces composed for chorus and orchestra, Stravinsky said that it is not "a symphony in which I have included psalms to be sung." On the contrary, "it is the singing of psalms that I am symphonizing."[2]
Although the piece was written for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere was actually given inBrussels by the Société Philharmonique de Bruxelles on December 13, 1930, under the direction ofErnest Ansermet. The American premiere of the piece was given soon afterwards by Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with the chorus of theCecilia Society (trained byArthur Fiedler) on December 19, 1930.[3] The first recording was made by Stravinsky himself with theOrchestre des Concerts Straram and the Alexis Vlassov Choir at theThéâtre des Champs-Élysées inParis on February 17 and 18, 1931.[4] One reviewer wrote, "The choir, throaty, full-blooded, darkly, inwardly passionate, sing with liturgical conviction and intensity in a memorable performance."[5]
Like many of Stravinsky's other works, includingPetrushka andThe Rite of Spring, theSymphony of Psalms occasionally employs theoctatonic scale (which alternateswhole steps andhalf steps), the longest stretch being eleven bars between rehearsal numbers 4 and 6 in the first movement.[6] Stravinsky stated that the root of the entire symphony is "the sequences of twominor thirds joined by amajor third... derived from the trumpet-harpmotive at the beginning of theallegro in Psalm 150".[7]
Stravinsky portrays the religious nature of the text through his compositional techniques. He wrote substantial portions of the piece infugalcounterpoint, which was used widely in the church in theRenaissance andBaroque periods. He also uses the large chorus to create a ritual atmosphere like that of the Church.
The work is scored for the following instrumentation:
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In the score preface, Stravinsky stated a preference for a children's choir for the upper two choral parts.
Notably, the score omitsclarinets,violins, andviolas.
The first movement of theSymphony of Psalms is marked "Tempo
= 92" and uses the text fromPsalm 38, verses 13 and 14. This movement was finished on August 15, 1930, which is the feast of theAssumption in the Catholic Church and is written as aprelude to the second movement, adouble fugue.
The movement is composed of flowingostinato sections punctuated with E-minorblock chords, in a voicing known as the "Psalms chord", which stop the constant motion.
The first ostinato section in measure 2, which is played in the oboe and bassoon, could be six notes from the octatonic scale starting C♯–D–E–F, etc., but incomplete sets such as this illustrate the controversial nature of the extent of its use.[8] Stravinsky himself regarded this ostinato as "the root idea of the whole symphony", a four-note set consisting of a sequence of "two minor thirds joined by a major third", and stated that it initiated in the trumpet–harp motive at the beginning of the allegro section of the third movement, which was composed first.[7]
If a liturgical character is produced by the use ofmodal scales even before the chorus's entrance (in measures 12–13, the piano plays an FDorian scale and in measures 15–16, the piano plays in the EPhrygian mode), it was not a conscious decision:
I was not aware of "Phrygian modes," "Gregorian chants," "Byzantinisms," or anything else of the sort, while composing this music, though, of course, the "influences" said to be denoted by such script-writers' baggage-stickers may very well have been operative.[7]
The presence of the chorus is used to create a church-like atmosphere in this piece as well as to appropriately set the Psalm. It enters with aminor-second motif, which is used both to emphasize the C♯/D octatonic scale and set the pleading text. The minor second motif in the chorus is continued throughout the movement. The use of the octatonic scale and the church modes pervade the sound of the movement, contributing to both the ritual feel of the piece and the plaintive setting of the text.
There are various ways of analyzing the tonal structure of the first movement. The most popular analysis is to view the movement in E minor, pronounced at the opening chord.[9] The followingarpeggios on B♭7 and G7 act asdominants to the othertonal centers in the next two movements, E♭ and C respectively. However, the strong presence of G in the movement also points to another tonal center. The opening chord isorchestrated in such a way so that the third of E minor, G, is emphasized. Moreover, the movement concludes with a loud G-major chord, which becomes the dominant to C minor at the start of the second movement.[10]
| Latin (Vulgate) | English (Douay-Rheims) |
Exaudi orationem meam, Domine, et deprecationem meam; auribus percipe lacrimas meas. Ne sileas, quoniam advena ego sum apud te, et peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei. | Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication: give ear to my tears. Be not silent: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner as all my fathers were. |
The second movement is adouble fugue inC minor,[11] and uses as textPsalm 39, verses 2, 3, and 4. The first fuguetheme is based on the same four-notecell used in the first movement,[11] and begins in the oboe in measure one:
The first entrance of the second theme starts in measure 29 in the soprano, followed by an entrance in the alto in measure 33 a fourth down:
The third and fourth entrances are in the tenor in measure 39 and bass in measure 43. Meanwhile, the first fugue theme can be heard in the bass instruments at the entrance of the soprano at measure 29. Astretto is heard in measure 52 based on the second fugal theme.
At measure 71, the voices sing inhomophony on the text "He hath put a new song in my mouth". In theaccompaniment, avariation of the first fugue theme is played in stretto. Finally,unison is heard in the voices in measure 84 on the text "and shall put their trust in the Lord." This completes the gradual clarification of texture fromcounterpoint to unison.
The piece concludes with E♭ as the tonal center.[12] Some analyses interpret the E♭ as being part of aninverted C-minor chord which creates a suitable transition into the third movement in C.[13]
| Latin (Vulgate) | English (Douay-Rheims) |
Expectans expectavi Dominum, et intendit mihi. | With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me. |
The third movement of theSymphony of Psalms alternates "Tempo = 48" and "Tempo
= 80", and uses nearly the complete text ofPsalm 150. Stravinsky wrote:
Theallegro in Psalm 150 was inspired by a vision of Elijah's chariot climbing the Heavens; never before had I written anything quite so literal as thetriplets for horns and piano to suggest the horses and chariot.[14]
The triplets passage is:
Stravinsky continues by saying:
The final hymn of praise must be thought of as issuing from the skies; agitation is followed by the calm of praise. In setting the words of this final hymn I cared only for the sounds of the syllables and I have indulged to the limit my besetting pleasure of regulating prosody in my own way.[15]
The second part of the slow opening introduction, setting the word "Laudate Dominum", was originally composed to the Old Slavonic words "Gospodi Pomiluy", and Stravinsky regarded this as his personal prayer to the Russian Ecumenical image of the Infant Christ with the scepter and the Globe.[15]
| Latin (Vulgate) | English (Douay-Rheims) |
Alleluia. Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus; laudate eum in firmamento virtutis ejus. | Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord in his holy places: praise ye him in the firmament of his power. |
When writing music forSergei Eisenstein's filmAlexander Nevsky,Prokofiev needed a Latin text to characterise the invading Teutonic knights. The nonsensical text,peregrinus expectavi pedes meos in cymbalis, appears in Prokofiev'scantata, based on the film score, for the movements "The Crusaders in Pskov" and "The Battle on the Ice". Kerr suggests that these words had been lifted by Prokofiev from theSymphony of Psalms – "peregrinus" from Stravinsky's first movement, "expectavi" and "pedes meos" from the second, and "in cymbalis" from the third – as a barb at Stravinsky.[16]
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![\relative c'' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"voice oohs" \clef treble \key c \minor \time 4/8 \tempo 8 = 60 \autoBeamOff ees->\mf bes->~ | bes8 bes bes a | aes!4~ aes16[ bes] ces8 | bes ges' f4~ | f8 } \addlyrics { Ex- pec- tans ex- pec- ta- vi DO- MI- NUM, }](/image.pl?url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2f%2fupload.wikimedia.org%2fscore%2fk%2fr%2fkrmd8rxn7bwupwovixt1wi3hllm5wo9%2fkrmd8rxn.png&f=jpg&w=240)
