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The final bars of Stravinsky’s Firebird.
When it came to international copyrights composer Igor Stravinsky had to be a shrewd businessman. At the time he composed his famous Ballet Russe scores, copyright protection had a very limited scope and offered little protection.
After a score’s copyright expired, any publisher could pick it up and replicate it without any revenue going back to the composer. In the event of a force majeure (say, like the Russian Revolution!) a composer could lose all rights and hence, royalty payments.
With his famous ballet scores Stravinsky circumvented this loophole by regularly publishing alternate and revised versions of his scores.
In the 1964 1965 video featured below, Stravinsky conducts the last two sections of his Firebird Suite. The horn solo occurs at about the 4:15 mark – Alan Civil performs (on a single B-flat horn.)
I greatly admire Stravinsky’s interpretation with the unison chords near the end of the piece, which are executed as dry staccatos – as clearly indicated in his score. While his conducting style is very metronomic (many times composers do not make the most expressive conductors), this particular detail works very well in context. In modern performances today this effect is typically ignored; the chords are performed as long, marcato notes.
Take a look at a 1961 performance with the New Zealand National Orchestra – Stravinsky is again at the podium. What is most interesting about this video is that it also includes a modern performance of the same excerpt. The contrast further illustrates the staccato vs. marcato issue I address.
This interpretation by the composer himself beckons the question – why do today’s conductors elongate these staccatos?
While the longer chords are what we have grown to expect – giving conductors an opportunity to dramatically flail their arms – the dry staccatos to my ear are much more terse and interesting. The final few measures then, are even more glorious and final.
It is reminiscent of one of my favorite symphonies, the Sibelius’ 5th. In the coda after a long build-up, it concludes with loud, broadly-spaced staccato chords.
The effect is distinctive and very powerful.
Photo credit:
Hood detail, 1977 Pontiac Firebird
flickr.com/photos/loveandhaight/13382671/sizes/s/
