In 1943, Stravinsky had begun work on rescoring his ballet The Rite of Spring. Although the project was left incomplete, his revisit to this earlier composition appears to have influenced the symphony. The ostinatos and shock tactics of the last movement, for example, recalls the "Glorification of the Chosen One" and "Sacrificial Dance" from The Rite, and some woodwind passages are reminiscent of the ballet's introduction. On the other hand, there are passages forecasting the opera The Rake's Progress, notably the openings of the slow movement and the finale.
Date of composition | 1945 (1942-1945) |
Premiered | 1946, January 24th in New York, NY, United States by Igor Stravinsky |
Type | Symphony |
Approx. duration | 25 minutes |
Instruments | Orchestra |
Autotranslations beta |
Igor Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements Igor' Fëdorovič Stravinskij: Symphony in Three Movements Igor Strawinsky: Symphony in Three Movements |