CCII. STRAVINSKY, Igor: Pulcinella Suite

CCII. STRAVINSKY, Igor (1882-1971)

Pulcinella Suite (1922)
1. Sinfonia
2. Serenata
3. Scherzino -- Allegretto -- Andantino
4. Tarantella
5. Toccata
6. Gavotta (con due variazioni)
7. Vivo
8. Minuetto -- Finale
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Jamie Martin, cond.
(24:52)

Pulcinella was a stock character from an 18th-century play, Quatre Polichinelles semblables ("Four identical Pulcinellas") which originated with the ancient theatre group commedia dell'arte.

Sergei Diaghilev, the impressario of the Ballets Russes, had already successfully produced three Stravinsky ballets (Firebird, 1910; Petrushka, 1911; and The Rite of Spring, 1913).

Diaghliev had the idea for a ballet based on an earlier work by the early 18th-century composer, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. [Recent scholarship has uncovered other composers who might have written some of the music.]

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Stravinsky was initially hesitant, but warmed to the project once he realized he could re-cast the music in a more modern style. Thus begins what is called his neoclassical period.

"Pulcinella was my discovery of the past, the epiphany through which the whole of my late work became possible. It was a backward look, of course -- the first of many love affairs in that direction -- but it was a look in the mirror, too."

Ansermet conducted the premiere of the ballet on May 15, 1920, with libretto and choreography by Léonide Massine and costumes and sets by Picasso.

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Stravinsky extracted the suite for purely orchestral performance in 1922.