Matériel : Partition
SKU: 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.
SKU: FP.FSC05
ISBN 9790570504169.
Cyri l Scott’s music is currently the subject of major revival, having lain largely ignored for much of the 20th Century. Once described as 'the father of modern British music' by Eugene Goossens, and admired by Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky and his lifelong friend Percy Grainger, he composed four hundred works including: four Symphonies, three Operas, two Piano Concertos, four Oratorios, Concertos for Violin, Cello, Oboe and Harpsichord, several Overtures, Tone Poems, many Chamber works and innumerable songs.There is a story that when Bernard Shaw commented to Elgar on the (then) daring harmonies of his Second Symphony Elgar replied 'You mustn’t forget, it was Cyril Scott started all that!'.'a pioneer of British piano music, producing more piano works in the period 1903-1914 than any other British composer and any other international one, with the exception of Scriabin... (He) was a key figure before World War I in helping Britain to break away from musical conservatism and the prevailing Germanic influences.' (Lisa Hardy, The British Piano Sonata 1870-1945).
