IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882-1871)

The Firebird Suite (1910; version from 1919)

Introduction The Firebird and its Dance

-

Round of the Princesses (Khorovod)

Infernal Dance of King Kaschei
Berceuse
Finale
Ballerina Tamara Karsavina as the Firebird
in the first production, 1910

The first of Igor Stravinsky's three famous early ballets, The Firebird is the most
traditional and derivative. While The Firebird, similar to Petrushka and The Rite Of
Spring, is unquestionably one of Stravinsky's masterpieces, if considered strictly
historically it can be, with some justice, viewed as warmed-over Rimsky-Korsakov (the
device of contrasting a folkloristic, diatonic style representing human characters, with
a highly chromatic style reserved for depicting the supernatural had its most
conspicuous use in Rimsky's opera The Golden Cockerel) burnished with a patina of
Debussy (the specifically colouristic orchestral opulence, although reflecting the
influence of Stravinsky's teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, sometimes additionally suggests the
Debussy of La Mer). For such reasons, the Young Stravinsky (who was twenty-seven
when he wrote The Firebird) came to be thought by many contemporary musicians and
critics as a traditionalist and a nationalist - as one said, "the direct descendant of
Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov". In fact, it would have been difficult to perceive the future
anti-nationalist and Rite Of Spring revolutionist in The Firebird, or for that matter, in
any other of Stravinsky's initial orchestral pieces. Stravinsky himself ultimately put the
matter in best perspective when he wrote that The Firebird "belongs to the styles of
its time. It is more vigorous than most of the composed folk music of the period, but it is also not very original. These
are all good conditions for a success."

Once, when Stravinsky asked Debussy what he really thought of The Firebird, his first ballet, the older composer
replied, “Well, you had to begin somehow, didn’t you?” Stravinsky himself had an ambiguous attitude towards the work.
Even in 1909, when he first applied himself to it, he did not find the subject attractive. But, as a young and little- known
composer approached by Diaghilev, Fokine, Nijinsky, Bakst and Benois in concert, he could scarcely refuse. Although it
was The Firebird ballet, first performed in Paris in 1910, that began his international career, and although the
orchestral suite has remained his most popular work, he was still a little embarrassed by it years afterwards. The
original “wastefully large” instrumentation he revised in 1919, when he wrote a second suite, and again in 1945, when he
put together a third and longer orchestral suite. Such critical actions, he said, “are stronger than words.”
The scenario for Firebird, as adapted by Fokine, follows an old Russian folk tale. The Tsarevitch, Prince Ivan, is hunting
the elusive Firebird, and during the night he wanders into a magical garden (Introduction). As he walks through the
garden he sees the Firebird, a beautiful bird with dazzling plumage (The Firebird and her Dance and Firebird
Variation). Ivan captures the Firebird, but agrees to let her go free, after taking one of her feathers as a trophy. At
sunrise, Ivan meets thirteen princesses, who have come into the garden to dance and play with golden apples from the
garden's orchard (Round-Dance of the Princesses). Ivan learns that the garden belongs to the evil magician-king
Kaschei, who has enchanted the princesses, and who has the ability to turn his enemies into stone. The prince, now in
love with one of the princesses, vows to enter Kaschei's castle and free his beloved. As soon as he opens the castle
gate, however, Kaschei and his crew of demons appear and capture Ivan in a furious battle (King Kaschei's Infernal
Dance). The magician-king tries to lull Ivan into unconsciousness with a bewitching lullaby (Berceuse), but Ivan protects
himself with the magic of the Firebird's feather. The Firebird suddenly appears and distracts Kaschei's monsters by
dancing wildly among them (Finale). The Firebird reveals to Ivan the secret of Kaschei's immortality: an egg that
contains Kaschei's soul. Ivan smashes the egg. Kaschei immediately dies, and with him all of his enchantments. The
ballet closes with triumphant rejoicing by the prince and his princess.
The sections of the 1919 Suite version:

1. Stravinsky was happy with his music for the Introduction, at least from a structural point of view, since its
chains of alternating thirds and seconds and the prominent tritone link it with later scenes where there is a
strong supernatural element such as the Infernal dance. For the supernatural characters--the Firebird, and
Kaschei and his gang--Stravinsky created non-diatonic melodies based dissonant intervals such as the
tritone. Here, on muted lower strings, the alternating thirds and seconds are strongly evocative of the
atmosphere of King Kaschei’s enchanted garden, where the Firebird comes to feed on the golden fruits growing
on silver trees. Stravinsky was also proud of the magical sound of glissando harmonics, which was a new effect
for strings in its day.

2. The next section, The Firebird and its Dance, is a brilliantly detailed study in orchestration, with no real theme
apart from the augmented fourths or tritones (and the rising chromatic passages in particular in the clarinets)
that characterise the Firebird and an iridescent orchestral sound (making much use of the harp) to match her
plumage and with erratic rhythms that suggest her flight.

3. Round of the Princesses. As captives of Kaschei, they - together with Prince Ivan who with the help of the
Firebird will eventually rescue them - represent the human element in the ballet and are characterised by
diatonic melody. Both the oboe melody and the slightly quicker one introduced by first violins are, in fact,
derived from a Russian folk song called In the Garden contained in a collection published by Rimsky-Korsakov.

4. The Infernal Dance of King Kaschei is a violent contrast, not only because of the explosive dynamics and the
ferocious rhythmic syncopations but also because of the malevolent non-diatonic intervals in the melodic line.
It makes much use of a scale that became known as the “Rimsky-Korsakov scale” : one that contains alternating
tones and semi-tones and that can be broken down into two diminished 7ths.

A B C D Eb F Gb Ab

A - C - Eb - Gb

B - D - F - Ab

The tritone A – Eb is very prominent, with A acting as the tonal centre for much of this section and the Eb
functioning as a Dominant. In the opening idea of this section that is first heard on the low brass, a passing E
natural appears, though it immediately descends to a Eb, accentuating the A – Eb tritone and the atmosphere
of conflict and tension during the battle between Kaschei and Ivan.
5. It is interesting to note, however, that Stravinsky can use the same intervals with a disarmingly gentle effect
in the Berceuse, where the Firebird charms King Kaschei and his followers to sleep.
6. The final triumph over Kaschei must naturally, be a celebration of diatonic melody. Once again Russian folk song
gave Stravinsky just what he wanted - a broad 3/2 melody called By the Gate, which positively thrives under
the weight of orchestration he hangs on it, flourishes when reshaped into a 7/4 fanfare, and prospers
magnificently in augmentation.
While Stravinsky's music for Firebird contains much that Stravinsky learned from Rimsky-Korsakov, its focus on driving
rhythms, its use of unusual and contrived scales, and its sometimes crashing dissonances are stirrings of a newer, much
more radical style. Stravinsky’s arrangement of music for the 1919 Suite showcases much of the more original music of
the ballet. In discussing Stravinsky's early ballets Firebird, Petrushka, and Rite of Spring--the works that established
Stravinsky as one of the foremost innovators of 20th-century music--conductor Pierre Boulez has written: "If the Rite
is the most prodigious leap of the three, it is no less true that, for a trial shot, Firebird is a veritable masterpiece. The
influence of Rimsky-Korsakov may be apparent; it does not prevent the work from affirming an originality that is all the
more striking in perspective. It is impossible now not to recognize in it the youthfulness of a musical genius; I believe
that its youthfulness is the most fascinating aspect of the score."

Compiled from a variety of sources inc. RLPO programme notes, websites and personal notes.