This classic
BMG-Sony set scythes through great swathes of their Stravinsky
catalogue bundling up most everything they have and only
leaving a few works unrecorded. For all the pundits cawing
about lack of notes and skimpy presentation this remains
an astonishing offer at super-bargain price (£18
from AmazonUK).
Yes, it
has appeared at full price before (1991, "Stravinsky
- The Recorded Legacy" on Sony Classical SX22K46290)
and yes it is not
quite the complete works. However,
where else can one acquire the riches represented by
these composer-directed or composer-supervised recordings?
Think how
we would have felt if the same had been done for Rachmaninov
or Schoenberg or Moeran or Martinů - almost their
entire works in composer-directed or -mentored performances.
Only Britten has had anything similar with Copland coming
a close-ish second.
Stravinsky’s
life's work in music is there from the early Rimsky-inspired
Symphony in E flat to the starkest dodecaphony. Not neglected
are the twelve-tone works of his late years after coming
into contact with that great Schoenberg advocate Robert
Craft. In this context try
Threni and the brief
Pro
Gesualdo piece.
Stravinsky
as brilliant magister of the orchestra can be heard in
the early fluttering rainbow-delicacy of
The Firebird.
Sample the helter-skelter flutter of
The Firebird's
Dance.
The other
two great ballets,
Petrushka and
The Rite of
Spring,
are there in full and
Petrushka and
Firebird are
also there in their familiar curtailed concert suite
form.
On CD 1
the
Scherzo Russe looks unmistakably to the pages
of
Petrushka. Speaking of which the composer's
own CBS
Petrushka is pressed forward to the point
where the orchestra were being driven close to breaking
point. Yet they come through flags flying. OK these recordings
are now between forty and fifty years old so the impact
is not going to be all that it now can be. That said,
it remains viscerally vivid and exciting. The transition
in
Le Sacre from the thunderous stomp of
Dance
of the Earth (tr. 23) into the
Largo (tr.
25) is to be savoured in a spectral glory redolent of
Ravel's
Rapsodie Espagnole.
Les
Noces with
its raw affinity with Orff and its pre-echoes of Birtwistle
is raucously statuesque. The playing throughout this
set is often pretty astonishing. This certainly the
case in the chiselled and tangy
March from
Soldier's
Tale
Memorable
is the rounded
Variation de Calliope from
Apollon
Musagète. The recording is very good indeed: smooth
and detailed. On the other hand the raw edge of the brass
in
Bransle Simple of
Agon (CD4 tr. 19)
looks forward to a century of Igor-influenced composers
who wrote works for brass ensemble.
Bransle Gay recalls
the much later
Ariadne by Gordon Crosse.
The
Adagio from
The
Bluebird is full of smiling sunny light. It casts
ogling eyes towards the grand balletic manner.
A
Village Fete from
The Fairy's Kiss looks
to
Petrushka's
Easter Fair yet strips
out the density of the early scoring.
Other conductors
have found more romance in the
Scherzino from
Pulcinella but
the composer’s lucidity and attention to rhythmic definition
is spot-on. The
Apothéose d'Orphée is superbly
done both artistically and on the audio side.
A disc
with three of the concert suites from
Pulcinella,
Petrushka and
Firebird reminds
us that the composer intended his music to make its way
into concert programmes as well as to be danced. The
grumping and shreiking nightmare of the
Dance of the
Peasant and the Bear from
Petrushka is sharply
characterised.
The Dance of the Coachmen has a
satisfying guttural grunt and also exploits the music's
inherent triumph (tr. 10). The brassy gruffness of the
Vivo (
Pulcinella)
leaps out at the listener and stereo separation adds
a gritty reality (tr. 20 CD 7).
Stravinsky
showed little real interest in symphonic form although
there are things called 'symphony' in his worklist. The
closest is the very early and Glazunov-like Symphony
in E flat op. 1 here to be found on CD 8. It's a little
gem and rather unconsidered. Try springing it on your
friends sight-unseen and see who can identify it. Listen
to that finale for more of the Glazunov redolence.
After that
Symphony on CD 8 comes a sequence of recordings made
of Stravinsky in orchestral rehearsal. The composer benevolently
persuades and instructs his artists. His attention to
minuscule detail is memorable - listen to him coaching
the singer in tr. 7 with grace and determination. He
enchants magically and self-effacingly in tr. 8. We hear
the composer conceding with sly grace when it proves
impossible to make a good splice for the recording of
Pulcinella.
This is a great place to start your exploration of the
set. You will be won over by the composer's personality
first though I grant you that this sequence may well
have been chosen to create a certain impression rather
than to be candidly representative; fascinating nonetheless.
On tr. 11 we get a miniature documentary with John McClure
as commentator framing the composer's reminiscences and
music and the memories of others who knew Stravinsky.
With CD
9 we come to the composer's three most characteristic
symphonies. Interesting that, rather like Britten, they
were never numbered. The
Symphony in Three Movements is
there with its violence and scar tissue yet deep rhythmic
fibre and inventive spitfire clarity. The composer has
a little fun at Beethoven's expense at the start of the
Symphony
in C - a smiling and uncruel humour is at work here.
One can also pick up the influences Stravinsky had on
Piston and Copland. In the
Symphony of Psalms Stravinsky
is sensitive and measured yet finding his grand Orff-like
tread and stride in the third section at 5.03 (tr. 10
CD9). Interesting that the monumental side of this work
is given a back-seat.
CD 10 has
the concerto and concertante pieces. The
Concerto
for piano and wind instruments smokes with grand
Purcellian gunpowder and ignites in furious little gusts.
Philippe Entremont seems to enjoy the experience as I
am sure Charles Rosen did with the unforgivingly dissonant
Movements -
five of them - for piano and orchestra. Dissonance is
little to be heard in the salty
Violin Concerto which
is neatly dispatched by Isaac Stern in a style thrummingly
extruded from
Pulcinella yet finding Bergian resonance
and butterfly grace in
Aria I.
CD 11 is
entitled ‘Miniature Masterpieces’. Here I would single
out the Copland-indebted
Greeting Prelude, the
softly chanting
Andante from
Suite No. 1 and
the gawky music-box
Valse of the
Second Suite.
The bright and eager
Dumbarton Oaks is followed
by
Norwegian Moods, which in the second movement
Song sounds
nothing like Stravinsky instead inhabiting a world of
lyrical Grieg-like contentment. The
Circus Polka has
Stravinsky back to his normal self. It is 'Composed for
a young elephant'! The tragic
Cantique from
Four
Etudes is followed by the Iberian-accented
Madrid -
another suitably disorientating quiz for the general
listener. There are some give-aways at 0.58.
CD 12 is ‘Chamber
Music and Historical Recordings vol. 1’. The shade of
Weill haunts the very brief
Preludium for jazz
ensemble. It is however full of the DNA of Stravinsky's
rhythmic entanglements. Superbly recorded too.
Ragtime sounds
agreeably unarticulated and is memorable for its cimbalom
twang. The
Septet's
Gigue rocks with scorched
discords. I had forgotten how ear-tickling the
Ebony
Concerto is and how short - between 9 and 10 minutes.
Here the clarinet is played by Benny Goodman. The sound
is stunningly alive.
Volume
13 is the second disc in the ‘Chamber Music and Historical
Recordings’ enclave of this set. Szigeti tackles the
Duo
Concertant which is again far more passionate than
I had recalled. Soulima Stravinsky plays the piano solo
Serenade
in A and is there
with his father in the
Concerto
for two solo pianos. Surely the now more enterprising
companies could record more of Soulima's own compositions.
The
Concerto is quite antiseptic by comparison
with the almost Arthur Benajmin-like chiming of the
Sonata
for Two Pianos - which here are played by the bright-eyed
and bushy-tailed Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale.
Discs 14,
16 and 17 set out the operas.
The Nightingale and
Mavra are
on one disc. Of the clangy metallic otherworldliness
of
The Nightingale,
the
Chinese March is
representative but listen also to
The Song of the
Nightingale with its chirping avian soprano. Sample
as well the wooden creaking humour of the acidly graven
writing for
The Performance of the Mechanical Nightingale.
Strangely in the case of
Mavra we are offered
a single 28 minute track. This set is otherwise very
well tracked - plenty of entrance points - so it's ideal
for study and appreciation.
The
Rake’s Progress is
given in a deluxe performance with very British-sounding
accents. The music is deliberately accessible. A good
example of this is
My tale should be told on
CD16 tr. 14. The recording is stunning. This pays off
handsomely in intrinsically fine pieces such as the
Trio
Could it then have been known (CD16 tr.
17). Life flows in full through
You O Nick (CD
17 tr. 2). The staginess of this recording complete
with judiciously applied sound-effects pays dividends.
There is quite a bit of recitative with the clang and
tinkle of the harpsichord to add to the regency mise-en-scène.
Then again things are completed with the epilogue
Good
people just a moment CD17 tr. 15 - with its hammered
home homilies.
The composer’s
38 songs are on CD 15. They are a surprising by-way in
Stravinsky's output.
The Shepherdess could almost
be by Rachmaninov.
The Firebird diaphony of
The
Flower - a Balmont setting - returns us to a recognisably
familiar Stravinsky and yet ...
The Three Japanese
Lyrics are of haiku-like concision and all over and
done with in under three minutes. The singer in
Pribaoutki really
rasps out the Russian folk style. Then for a flavour-some
offering try the
Four Russian Peasant Songs for
choir with four Horns. If you enjoy Canteloube's
Chants
de l'Auvergne surprise yourself with
Tilim Bom -
fully of bright, eager light and rhythmic excitement.
A second version of this piece with full orchestra rounds
out the disc. By contrast the dissonance of the
Three
Songs from William Shakespeare include a tortured
Full Fathom
Five.
Oedipus
Rex is
the lead item on CD 18. It is sharply etched stuff
and benefits from a transparent performance of grandeur,
light and clarity. Both the Craft-conducted
The
Flood and the composer-conducted
Oedipus Rex are
melodramas.
The Flood is a work of angular
dissonance. Columbia use the two channels for separation
and to heighten dramaturgy in the humorous
Noah
and his Wife interlude though played out against
dissonance in the orchestra (tr. 7). Channel separation
also adds to the delights of
The Covenant of the
Rainbow. The estimable John Westbrook – familiar
from classics recordings of RVW’s
Oxford Elegy and
Bliss’s
Morning Heroes - is the narrator.
CD 19 has
a second helping of melodrama in the Gide-based
Perséphone with
its angular and dissonant clangour and shredded lryricism.
Ode is
a work displaying a type of honeyed dissonance, all concisely
channelled into three movements. Its
Eclogue chugs
delightfully and there is a light hand in terms of dodecaphony.
The
Monumentum Pro Gesualdo is a tight and gently
dissonant piece recalling the Gabriellis in its raw treatment
of the brass.
Nearly
there now. The last two volumes but one set out the so-called ‘Sacred
Works’. The
Chorale Variations are founded on
Bach's
Vom Himmel Hoch. They are sprightly
and smilingly suave as in
Variation II with the
lovely 'singing' of the oboe and harp.
Le Roi des
Etoiles sets words by Konstantin Balmont in music
that is mystical-ecstatic in a way that might well have
been where Scriabin was going had his delusional dreams
turned into a scored reality. The
Ave Maria,
Credo and
Pater
Noster recall the Russian Christian Orthodox tradition.
Stravinsky's
Mass is for mixed chorus and double
wind quintet. It has a sometimes antique flavour as in
the medieval flavoured
Sanctus (CD 20 tr. 21)
but Stravinsky's peppery harmonies in the brass keep
us anchored.
Babel is for orchestra and narrator.
It tells the tale of the
Tower of Babel and its
great fall. It has a certain Hollywood and Charlton Heston
air to it; quite agreeable in fact. At only 5:13 it does
not outstay its welcome. The narrator is in fact John
Colicos.
CD 21 is
the second volume of ‘Sacred Works’. The stern and even
grim
Canticum Sacrum has its sternness underlined
by a darkling orchestral score. The cantata
A Sermon,
A Narrative and A Prayer is unforgivingly dodecaphonic
with plenty of angularity for singers and orchestra.
The cataclysm of the
Stoning of Stephen, complete
with orator, is the peak of the work.
Anthem is
in a similar idiom but for mixed voice choir only.
Threni brings
back the tartly supportive orchestra with sonorous choir
and soloists.
The final
disc is of Robert Craft conducting under the supervision
of the composer.
Song of the Nightingale in its
format as symphonic poem is a blast of hard and brilliant
life - like
The Firebird but injected with steely
deliberation.
Danses Concertantes is lively and
buoyant but why were the five movements not separately
tracked? The
Epitaphium is again dissonant and
distinguished by a plangent harp contribution suggesting
dark fathoms. The
Double Canon for string quartet
is in memoriam Raoul Dufy. It is solemn and again dissonant
as is the
Sacred Ballad - Abraham and Isaac. Anger
floods in for
Variations - written for Aldous
Huxley - in memoriam. The
Requiem Canticles is
in nine movements here each accorded its own track. Dissonance
and angst are shafts shot through this music although
in
Interlude (CD22 tr. 11) a more smiling countenance
shines equivocally. At least it shines.
Comparison
is not really an issue here. There is nothing like this
set unless of course you compare it with the still available
de
luxe version which includes full notes and illustrations,
all texts and translations. You will pay probably four
times as much as you will pay for the present set.
You will
have your own favourites to compare. My own include the
Mercury Markevitch version of the complete
Firebird which
for all its grey locks is to be preferred over every
other recording I know. Ancerl's
Oedipus Rex is
more awesome and monumental in effect - its choral sound
bigger. You will also need to keep a watch for the Craft-conducted
MusicMasters recordings made in the 1990s and gradually
drip feeding onto the market from Naxos.
The downside
to this set is that there are no texts; not even a CD-ROM;
not even a link to a webpage. You may be able to google
some of them. Another demerit for some may be the occasional
intrusion of transatlantic accents in these all-American
choirs. It’s certainly noticeable in the
Symphony
of Psalms. This transatlantic ‘twang’ sometimes recalls
the same effect in the classic recordings by Abravanel
in
Dona Nobis Pacem (Vanguard-Omega) or Hanson
in
Lament for Beowulf (Mercury); works very different
from Stravinsky's. The advantages however are overwhelming
and we need to remember that for many of these works
this is the vocal sound for which Stravinsky wrote the
works.
As a set
it's all most logically and pleasingly laid out so hats
off to the concept planners this time. The format is
the now ubiquitous wallet foldout style card box with
each of the 22 discs in its own card sleeve - rather
like a Brilliant Classics standard. If you want a luxury
presentation and have three times as much shelf space
then you can still find SX22K46290 with a sturdy plastic
slip case and each sub-set of discs housed in its own
single or multiple jewel-case with each supported by
full notes, texts and translation. The price will usually
be at least four times - may be five - what you would
pay for this.
By the
way the works not included are, so it seems:
Pastorale for
violin and wind quartet (Szigeti with Stravinsky and
wind quartet);
Pastorale for voice and piano;
Three
Easy Pieces and
Five Easy Pieces for four-hands
piano;
The Star-Spangled Banner (arr. Stravinsky);
Fanfare
for a new Theatre (Heinrich and Nagel) and
Chanson
Russe for violin and piano (Szigeti and Stravinsky).
You can hear the last three in another Sony set ‘Original
Jacket Collection’ – ‘Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky’ on
Sony-BMG SX9K 64136.
One could
easily pick up the present set and choose a disc or a
work to play each day for a year and be constantly surprised
and rewarded by this magister of 20th century music.
Rob Barnett
Detailed Contents List
1. Firebird
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia
Symphony Orchestra
Written: 1910
Date of Recording: 1/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
2. Scherzo à la russe
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia
Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943-1944; USA
Date of Recording: 12/17/1963
Venue: New York, New York
3. Scherzo fantastique, Op.
3
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1907-1908; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/1/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
4. Fireworks, Op. 4
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia
Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1908; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/17/1963
Venue: New York, New York
5. Pétrouchka
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia
Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: Switzerland
Date of Recording: 2/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
6. Le sacre du printemps
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia
Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911-1913
Date of Recording: 1/1960
Venue: New York, New York
7. Les noces
Performer: Roger Sessions (Piano),
Aaron Copland (Piano), Lukas Foss (Piano),
Samuel Barber (Piano), Loren
Driscoll (Tenor), Mildred Allen (Soprano),
Regina Sarfaty (Mezzo Soprano),
Robert Oliver (Bass)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: American
Concert Choir, Columbia Percussion Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: Switzerland
Date of Recording: 12/21/1959
Venue: Hollywood, California
8. Renard
Performer: William Murphy (Baritone),
Loren Driscoll (Tenor), Donald Gramm (Bass Baritone),
George Shirley (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia
Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1915-1916; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 1/26/1962
Venue: New York, New York
9. L'histoire du soldat: Suite
for Chamber Ensemble
Performer: William Kraft (Percussion),
Robert Marsteller (Trombone), Don Christlieb (Bassoon),
Richard Kelly (Double Bass),
Roy D'Antonio (Clarinet), Israel Baker (Violin),
Charles Brady (Trumpet)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia
Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1918; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 2/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
10. Apollon musagète
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia
Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: France
Date of Recording: 6/29/1964
Venue: New York, New York
11. Agon by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Los Angeles Festival
Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; USA
Date of Recording: 6/18/1957
Venue: Cleveland, Ohio
11A. Jeu de Cartes by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cleveland Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1936
Date of Recording: 3/13/1964
Venue: Cleveland, Ohio
12. Scènes de ballet
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; USA
Date of Recording: 3/28/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
13. Bluebird Pas-de-deux
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1941; USA
Date of Recording: 12/17/1964
Venue: New York, New York
14. Le baiser de la fée
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928/1950; France
Date of Recording: 8/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
15. Pulcinella
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: Switzerland
Date of Recording: 8/23/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
16. Orpheus
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chicago Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1947; USA
Date of Recording: 7/20/1964
Venue: Chicago, Illinois
17. Pétrouchka: Suite
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911/1947; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 2/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
18. Pulcinella Suite
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1922/1947; France
Date of Recording: 8/25/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
19. Firebird Suite
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1919 version; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 1/18/1967
Venue: Hollywood, California
Notes: Version: 1945.
20. Symphony no 1 in E flat major,
Op. 1
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1905-1907; Russia
Date of Recording: 5/2/1966
Venue: Hollywood, California
21. Portrait of Stravinsky - Stravinsky
in Rehearsal by Various
Notes: Includes:
Apollo 4:44 (Recorded in New York
City, in December 1964)
Sleeping Beauty / Dornröschen /
La Belle au bois dormant 2:14 (Recorded
in New York City, in December 1963)
Recollections of my Childhood (with
Cathy Berberian) 1:16 (Recorded
in New York City, in December 1964)
Pulcinella 2:44 (Recorded in New
York City, in August 1965)
Piano Concerto (with Philippe Entremont)
5:46 (Recorded in New York City,
in May 1964)
Symphony in C 7:52 (Recorded in
Toronto, Canada, in December 1962)
With the Columbia Symphony Orchestra
and CBC Symphony Orchestra.
22. Stravinsky in His Own Words
by Various
Performer: John McClure (Narrator)
23. Symphony in Three Movements
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942-1945; USA
Date of Recording: 2/1/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
24. Symphony in C
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1939-1940; USA
Date of Recording: 12/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
25. Symphony of Psalms
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival
Singers, CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1930/1948; France
Date of Recording: 3/30/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
Notes: Version: 1948 revision.
26. Concerto for Piano and Winds
Performer: Philippe Entremont (Piano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1923-1924; France
Date of Recording: 5/13/1964
Venue: New York, New York
Notes: Version: 1950 revision.
27. Movements for Piano and Orchestra
Performer: Charles Rosen (Piano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1961; USA
Date of Recording: 2/12/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
28. Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra
Performer: Philippe Entremont (Piano)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928-1929; France
Date of Recording: 1/3/1966
Venue: New York, New York
Notes: Recorded under the supervision
of the composer.
29. Concerto for Violin in D major
Performer: Isaac Stern (Violin)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1931; France
Date of Recording: 6/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
30. Greeting Prelude
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1956; USA
Date of Recording: 12/16/1963
Venue: New York, New York
31. Suite no 1 for small Orchestra
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917-1925; France
Date of Recording: 3/29/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
32. Suite no 2 for small Orchestra
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1921; France
Date of Recording: 3/30/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
33. Concerto in E flat major "Dumbarton
Oaks"
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1938; France
Date of Recording: 3/29/1964
Venue: Hollywood, California
34. Four Norwegian Moods
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942; USA
Date of Recording: 3/29/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
35. Circus Polka
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942; USA
Date of Recording: 3/29/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
36. Concerto for String Orchestra
in D major
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; USA
Date of Recording: 12/17/1963
Venue: New York, New York
37. Instrumental Miniatures (8)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1962; USA
Date of Recording: 4/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
38. Etudes (4) for Orchestra
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928/1952; France
Date of Recording: 1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
39. Preludium for Jazz Band
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Jazz
Band
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1936-1937; France
Date of Recording: 4/27/1965
Venue: New York, New York
40. Concertino for 12 instruments
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber
Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1952; USA
Date of Recording: 10/26/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
41. Octet for Wind Instruments
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber
Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1923/1952; France
Date of Recording: 1/5/1961
Venue: New York, New York
42. Rag-time for 11 instruments
Performer: Toni Koves-Steiner (Cimbalom)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber
Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1918; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 1/26/1962
Venue: New York, New York
43. Tango
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Jazz
Band
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1940; USA
Date of Recording: 4/27/1965
Venue: New York, New York
Notes: Version: 1953.
44. Septet
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber
Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Date of Recording: 10/27/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
45. Pastorale for Violin, Oboe,
English Horn, Clarinet and Bassoon
Performer: Israel Baker (Violin)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber
Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1933; France
46. Ebony Concerto
Performer: Benny Goodman (Clarinet)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Jazz
Band
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1945; USA
Date of Recording: 110/27/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
47. Symphonies of Wind Instruments
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Northwest German
Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1920; France
Date of Recording: 1951
Notes: Version: 1947.
This selection is a monaural recording.
48. Duo concertant for Violin and
Piano
Performer: Igor Stravinsky (Piano),
Joseph Szigeti (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1931-1932; France
Date of Recording: 10/1945
Notes: This selection is a monaural
recording.
49. Serenade for Piano in A major
Performer: Igor Stravinsky (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1925; France
Date of Recording: 7/1934
Venue: Paris, France
Notes: This selection is a monaural
recording.
50. Concerto for 2 Pianos
Performer: Igor Stravinsky (Piano),
Soulima Stravinsky (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1931-1935; France
Date of Recording: 2/16/1938
Venue: Paris, France
Notes: This selection is a monaural
recording.
51. Rag-time for Piano
Performer: Igor Stravinsky (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1919; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 7/1934
Venue: Paris, France
Notes: This selection is a monaural
recording.
52. Sonata for 2 Pianos
Performer: Robert Fizdale (Piano),
Andrew Gold (Tenor)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943-1944; USA
Date of Recording: 11/30/1961
Venue: New York, New York
53. Sonata for Piano
Performer: Charles Rosen (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1924; France
Date of Recording: 12/1960
Venue: New York, New York
54. Le rossignol
Performer: William Murphy (Baritone),
Stanley Kolk (Tenor), Elaine Bonazzi
(Mezzo Soprano),
Herbert Beattie (Bass), Kenneth
Smith (Bass), Loren Driscoll (Tenor),
Reri Grist (Soprano), Marina Picassi
(Soprano), Donald Gramm (Bass Baritone),
Carl Kaiser (Bass)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Washington D.C.
Opera Society Orchestra, Washington
D.C. Opera Society Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1908-1914; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/1960
Venue: Washington D.C.
55. Mavra
Performer: Susan Belinck (Soprano),
Mary Simmons (Mezzo Soprano), Patricia
Rideout (Alto),
Stanley Kolk (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1921-1922; France
Date of Recording: 5/7/1964
Venue: Toronto, Canada
56. Faun and shepherdess, Op. 2
Performer: Mary Simmons (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1906; Russia
Date of Recording: 5/8/1964
Venue: Toronto, Canada
57. Poèmes (2) de Paul Verlaine,
Op. 9
Performer: Donald Gramm (Bass Baritone)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1910/1951; Russia
Date of Recording: 1964-1966
Venue: Hollywood, California
58. Poems (2) of Konstantin Bal'mont
Performer: Evelyn Lear (Soprano)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911/1954; Russia
Date of Recording: 1/24/1967
Venue: Hollywood, California
59. Japanese Lyrics (3)
Performer: Evelyn Lear (Soprano)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1912-1913; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 6/10/1968
Venue: Hollywood, California
60. Little Songs (3) "Recollections
of my childhood"
Performer: Cathy Berberian (Mezzo
Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1906/1913; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/11/1964
Venue: New York, New York
61. Pribaoutki
Performer: Cathy Berberian (Mezzo
Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 12/11/1964
Venue: New York, New York
62. Cat's Cradle Songs (4)
Performer: Cathy Berberian (Mezzo
Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1915-1916; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 12/1/1964
Venue: New York, New York
63. Russian Peasant Songs (4)
Conductor: Gregg Smith
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith
Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914-1917; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 8/2/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
64. Four Songs
Performer: Dorothy Remsen (Harp),
Louise Di Tullio (Flute), Adrienne
Albert (Soprano),
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953-1954; USA
Date of Recording: 11/30/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
65. Three Songs from William Shakespeare
Performer: Cathy Berberian (Mezzo
Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber
Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Date of Recording: 12/14/1964
Venue: New York, New York
66. In memoriam Dylan Thomas
Performer: Alexander Young (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber
Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1954; USA
Date of Recording: 11/27/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
67. Elegy for JFK
Performer: Charles Russo (Clarinet),
Jack Kreiselmann (Clarinet), Cathy
Berberian (Mezzo Soprano),
Paul E Howland (Clarinet)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1964; USA
Date of Recording: 12/14/1964
Venue: New York, New York
68. The Owl and the Pussycat
Performer: Robert Craft (Piano),
Adrienne Albert (Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1966; USA
Date of Recording: 8/18/1967
69. Trois histoires pour enfants:
no 1, Tilim-bom
Performer: Evelyn Lear (Soprano)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1915-1917; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 1967-1968
Venue: Hollywood, California
70. Rake's Progress
Performer: Peter Tracey (Bass),
Kevin Miller (Tenor), Regina Sarfaty
(Mezzo Soprano),
Judith Raskin (Soprano), Alexander
Young (Tenor), John Reardon (Baritone),
Don Garrard (Bass)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra, Sadler's Wells Opera
Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1948-1951; USA
Date of Recording: 6/1964
Venue: London, England
71. Oedipus rex
Performer: Loren Driscoll (Tenor),
Shirley Verrett (Mezzo Soprano),
George Shirley (Tenor), Donald Gramm
(Bass Baritone), Chester Watson
(Bass), John Reardon (Baritone),
John Westbrook (Spoken Vocals)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Washington D.C.
Opera Society Orchestra, Washington
D.C. Opera Society Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926-1927; France
Date of Recording: 1/20/1961
Venue: Washington D.C.
Notes: Version: 1949.
72. The Flood
Performer: Paul Tripp (Spoken Vocals),
Richard Robinson (Tenor), Sebastian
Cabot (Spoken Vocals),
Laurence Harvey (Spoken Vocals),
John Reardon (Baritone), Elsa Lanchester
(Spoken Vocals),
Robert Oliver (Bass)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1961-1962; USA
Date of Recording: 3/1962
Venue: Hollywood, California
73. Perséphone
Performer: Vera Zorina (Spoken Vocals),
Michele Molese (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra, Gregg Smith Singers,
Ithaca College Concert Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1933-1934; France
Date of Recording: 5/1966
Venue: Hollywood, California
74. Ode
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cleveland Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943; USA
Date of Recording: 3/13/1964
Venue: Cleveland, Ohio
75. Monumentum pro Gesualdo di Venosa
ad CD annum
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1960; USA
Date of Recording: 6/9/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
76. Chorale Variations on "Von
Himmel hoch da komm' ich her"
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival
Singers, CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1955-1956; USA
Date of Recording: 3/30/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
77. Le roi des étoiles
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival
Singers, CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911-1912; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
78. Ave Maria
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival
Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Date of Recording: 5/8/1964
Venue: Toronto, Canada
Notes: Version: 1949.
79. Credo
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith
Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Date of Recording: 8/20/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
Notes: Version: 1964.
80. Pater noster
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival
Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926/1949; France
Date of Recording: 5/8/1964
Venue: Toronto, Canada
Notes: Version: 1949.
81. Cantata
Performer: Adrienne Albert (Soprano),
Alexander Young (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith
Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1951-1952; USA
Date of Recording: 1965-1966
Venue: Hollywood, California
82. Mass
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra, Gregg Smith Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944-1948; USA
Date of Recording: 6/5/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
83. Babel
Performer: John Colicos (Spoken
Vocals)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival
Singers, CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; USA
Date of Recording: 11/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
84. Canticum sacrum ad honorem Sancti
Marci nominis
Performer: Richard Robinson (Tenor),
Howard Chitjian (Baritone)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Los Angeles
Festival Symphony Orchestra, Los
Angeles Festival Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1955; USA
Date of Recording: 6/19/1957
Venue: Hollywood, California
85. Introitus (requiem aeternam):
TS Eliot in memorium
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber
Ensemble, Gregg Smith Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1965; USA
Date of Recording: 2/9/1966
Venue: New York, New York
86. A Sermon, a Narrative and a
Prayer
Performer: John Horton (Spoken Vocals),
Loren Driscoll (Tenor), Shirley
Verrett (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1960-1961; USA
Date of Recording: 4/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
87. The dove descending breaks the
air
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival
Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1962; USA
Date of Recording: 4/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
88. Threni - id est Lamentationes
Jeremiae prophetae
Performer: James Wainner (Tenor),
William Lewis (Tenor), Beatrice
Krebs (Alto),
Bethany Beardslee (Soprano), Mac
Morgan (Spoken Vocals), Robert Oliver
(Bass)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra, Schola Cantorum
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957-1958; USA
Date of Recording: 1/1959
Venue: New York, New York
89. Chant du rossignol
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 1/23/1967
Venue: Hollywood, California
90. Danses concertantes
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942; USA
Date of Recording: 1/20/1967
Venue: Hollywood, California
91. Epitaphium
Performer: Kalman Bloch (Clarinet),
Arthur Gleghorn (Flute), Dorothy
Remsen (Harp)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1959; USA
Date of Recording: 12/14/1964
Venue: New York, New York
92. Double Canon for String Quartet
Performer: Sanford Schonbach (Viola),
Otis Igleman (Violin), Israel Baker
(Violin),
George Neikrug (Cello)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1959; USA
Date of Recording: 1/25/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
93. Abraham and Isaac
Performer: Richard Frisch (Baritone)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1963; USA
Date of Recording: 1967-1969
Venue: Hollywood, California
94. Variations for Orchestra "Aldous
Huxley in memoriam"
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1963-1964; USA
Date of Recording: 10/11/1960
Venue: New York, New York
95. Requiem Canticles
Performer: Elaine Bonazzi (Mezzo
Soprano), Linda Anderson (Soprano),
Donald Gramm (Bass Baritone),
Charles Bressler (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony
Orchestra, Ithaca College Concert
Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1965-1966; USA
Date of Recording: 10/11/1966
Venue: New York, New York
Columbia
Symphony Orchestra/Stravinsky, Craft 
