Stravinsky Octet, First movement (Sinfonia) 1. Discuss the form of the movement.

Does it follow or suggest some specific formal model? I would definitely say it doesnt follow a specific formal model, but I believe it has enough characteristics of sonata form to suggest that was his base in composing it. If it is based on sonata form, however, there are a lot of variations from traditional sonata form. The beginning through rehearsal 5 seems to function as an introduction, as it does not come back later in the piece. While introductions are common in sonata form pieces, this one is proportionately much longer than most introductions, as this piece is only 11 pages and the introduction is 2 and of those pages. The first theme begins at rehearsal 6, and it is a sudden change in volume and voicing that serves to introduce the idea of the theme beginning. There is little to no transition between theme 1 and 2, which starts at rehearsal 10 in the solo line of the trombone. The second theme continues until around rehearsal 14, at which point the development begins. Throughout the development, you can hear traces of the original material, but there is also a lot of innovation. The transition to the recapitulation seems to being around rehearsal 19, leading to the recapitulation, which starts at rehearsal 21. Unlike traditional sonata form, only theme 1 is repeated, which is the end of the piece. Harmonically, it is not faithful to traditional sonata form, as the key center is less stable

2. What is the role of motive in this movement? What are the most prominent motives? Motive is the main aspect of the different themes in this piece. Each theme is built on a somewhat short motive that gets repeated a few times in different instruments. Instead of each of the two themes being a through-composed line that works together as a sentence, each theme is defined by just a short collection of notes. Because of the unique harmonies used by Stravinsky, the motives are the most important feature of being able to distinguish different themes. One section where this is very important is the beginning of the recapitulation in rehearsal 21. Because the short motive is so recognizable, it is easy to tell that a return to the original theme is being executed. Without this easily recognizable theme, it would be harder to tell because of his changing tonal language. 3. Discuss at least two specific rhythmic/metric features of the movement. One aspect that is very interesting is his use of phrase lines and how that works with his changing time signatures. On page 2, his bars switch from 5/16 to 3/8 to 3/16 to 2/8 and so on, in an ever-changing row of rhythmic patterns. The flute part at rehearsal three has a repeating idea that fits the bars for his two 2/8 bars, but when he switches the bars, it looks like the rhythmic phrases are crossing bar lines, and the lines that show phrases are doing the same. This seems to serve the same idea as did the beginning of Dances of the Young Girls from Rite of Spring did while he wanted phrases to work in certain ways, there is the natural tendency to accent the first beat of each measure, so he must have written it in a way that would accent both his rhythmic phrases and also the downbeat of each measure as notes he wanted brought out. The other aspect would be the rhythmic simplicity of the themes as opposed to what

else is going on around them. I believe he did this to fully bring out those themes and have them serve as focal points of the listening. The first theme is comprised of two quarter notes, a dotted quarter note, then sixteenth notes; this is much simpler than the preceding page of changing time signatures and moving bar lines. The theme is also on the beat, which is different than Stravinskys propensity to use offbeat lines. Even the second theme, which does hit specific notes on the offbeats, is quite simple rhythmically and melodically compared to the other material in the piece 4. Discuss the tonal organization. Is the music pitch centered, and how? What is the role of the key signature? What are the main long-range tonal relationships? Do you hear this music as "harmonic" or mostly "linear"? The interesting thing about this piece is that while I would say the piece is pitch centered, it is in the fact that small segments of the piece work together tonally, but what makes it so modern is how the pieces are next to each other without any transition from key center to key center. They key signature seems to just expedite the process of reading sharps and flats because the piece may have a propensity to live more often in the Eb Major area than any other area. I hear this music as very linear in nature, with the different instruments working well harmonically together but the overall piece moving quite seamlessly from key center to key center, which suggests a focus on line as opposed to harmony. That being said, there are definite long-range relations in the tonal relationships, as the first theme comes back later in the same range of Eb Major. However, what comes in between seems to be less about relations than the linear effect. 5. This piece comes from Stravinsky's so-called "neo-classical" period. Discuss the conflict and interaction between past and present in this movement and any reinterpretation of the past you may identify. This piece is very much rooted in the classical period, especially in the fact that it is in sonata form, one of the most obvious traits of music from that period. Also, it could find root in the past in the individual phrases which, taken out of context, sound very tonal and harmonically classical. However, I believe it is a stretch to really call this music neo-classical, as Stravinskys harmonic language and complex rhythmic patterns speak solely to modern music outside of the confines of Classicism. In relation to his other works, it seems to take more from the past, but it is still very modern in nature, and if Stravinsky was thinking neo-classical while composing this, he was only in the sense of using tried ideas as the starting point for a thoroughly modern composition.