Organ
SKU:
HL.49046414
Version for organ by
Leif Thybo (1952) based
on the original version
for chamber
orchestra. Composed
by Igor Stravinsky. Organ
Large Works. Classical.
Softcover. 52 pages.
Duration 900 seconds.
Schott Music #ED23092.
Published by Schott Music
(HL.49046414).
ISBN
9781540090522. UPC:
842819103974.
The
American musical patrons
Mildred and Robert Wood
Bliss were considering
which distinguished
composer to commission to
create a work in
celebration of their 30th
wedding anniversary in
1938. The couple had made
the acquaintance of Igor
Stravinsky in April the
preceding year at the
premiere of his ballet
Jeu de Cartes in New York
and had subsequently
invited the composer to
their country home
'Dumbarton Oaks' in
Washington D.C. to talk
about a new composition.
Stravinsky only just
managed to complete the
work in time for the
anniversary celebrations:
its date of completion
was also the date of its
first performance. For
his classically styled
three-movement work, he
selected the title
Concerto in E flat,
adding the subtitle
Dumbarton Oaks as a
dedication. The structure
of the work references
the concerto grosso: it
features a soloist
ensemble which unites in
the tutti sequences but
also plays in concertino
groups during the solo
episodes. Broken chordal
structures characterise
the central movement
whereas the outer
movements are
distinguished through
their use of fugato.
Dumbarton Oaks went on to
become one of Stravinskys
mostsuccessful works,
performed widely and
delighting Mildred Bliss
so much that she
immediately issued
another commission, for
the Symphony in C. Its
composer's very public
commitment to American
cultural life helped pave
the way for Stravinskys
emigration to the USA in
1945. As early as 1952
Leif Thybo created an
arrangement for organ
which Stravinsky probably
did not know at the time
of his life.