Stravinsky’s Octet is scored for an unusual combination of woodwind and brass instruments: flute, clarinet in B♭ and A, two bassoons, trumpet in C, trumpet in A, tenor trombone, and bass trombone. Because of its dry wind sonorities, divertimento character, and open and self-conscious adoption of "classical" forms of the German tradition (sonata, variation, fugue), as well as the fact that the composer published an article asserting his formalist ideas about it shortly after the Octet's first performance, it has been generally regarded as the beginning of neoclassicism in Stravinsky's music, even though his opera Mavra (1921–22) already displayed most of the traits associated with this phase of his career (Walsh 2001, §5).
Date of composition | 1923 (1922-1923) in Biarritz, France |
Premiered | 1923, October 18th (Opéra de Paris) in Paris, France by Igor Stravinsky |
Type | Octet |
Approx. duration | 15 minutes |
Instruments |
Flute
Clarinet Bassoon Trumpet Trombone |
Autotranslations beta |
Igor Stravinsky: Octet for wind instruments Igor' Fëdorovič Stravinskij: Octet for wind instruments Igor Strawinsky: Octet for wind instruments |