As one of the important representatives of modern music, Stravinsky’s creation can be roughly divided into three periods: early (Russian style period, before 1919), middle period (neoclassical period) , 1919-1951), late period (serialism period, after 1951). Stravinsky's early creations are represented by the three famous ballets "The Firebird", "Petrushka" and "The Rite of Spring", which have both a distinctive Russian national style and a strong original expressionist color; The medium-term creations are represented by the dance drama "Pulcinella", the opera-oratorio "Oedipus Rex", "Symphony of Psalms", the opera "The Prodigal Son's Progress" and some instrumental works, combining the characteristics of classical music with the characteristics of modern music. The combination of languages ????is very popular; in his later creations, Anton Webern's sequential music technique was used, and his representative works include the dance drama "Agon", the TV musical "Flood", and "Variations for Orchestra", etc.
To understand the characteristics of Stravinsky’s late serialist creation, we must start with his mid-term neoclassicism (Neoclassicism) creative style. Neoclassicism prevailed in the 1920s, also known as "Neo-Baroque". It was opposite to late Romanticism and parallel to Expressionism. It is a creative trend arising from the title and subjectivity of late Romanticism in music. Neoclassicism advocates that music does not need to reflect chaotic social reality and politics, but should restore the creative style and creative techniques of the Baroque and Classical periods, emphasize the objective spirit and neutral attitude of music, and oppose the title and drama of music. In short, it is: striving to imitate ancient music styles in music, and using modern technology in creative techniques to form a new style of imitating ancient music. At the same time, neoclassicism does not exclude new, modern musical languages.
It is precisely based on the unique characteristics of neoclassicism that does not exclude new and modern musical languages ??that it gave rise to many 20th century avant-gardes such as serialism, expressionism, twelve-tone system, and concrete music. Musical forms and genres have broad space for development and sufficient nourishment. At this time, many new musical styles and genres sprouted and grew. Stravinsky, who was always immersed in the great aura of neoclassicism, also began to consider the turn of his music creation style and the perfect integration with the new music style. This is the practical significance of Stravinsky's late musical style change.
Stravinsky was influenced and cultivated by Russian music culture in his early years. With his extraordinary artistic temperament and extraordinary musical perception, he successfully created the dance drama "The Firebird" at the age of 27. ", attracted the attention of the world. After going abroad, Stravinsky integrated into the world's music culture and continued to make waves with the release of his works in different styles. As a great artist with an extremely sharp and active mind, it is difficult for people to find clues and signs of changes in the three main creative styles of his life. Therefore, each change in style catches his followers off guard, such as Falling into the fog. Throughout Stravinsky's creative career of more than 60 years, he has been constantly seeking innovation and avoiding repeating himself. Therefore, he is attracted to various styles and schools of the 20th century, such as Impressionism, Neoclassicism, Expressionism, Jazz and Twelve-Tone System, and he also has some influences on some schools in his works of different styles. Development and growth have had a significant impact. The American conductor Craft Robert, Stravinsky’s assistant and close friend in his later years, once said: “If Stravinsky is the exciting center of musical life in the twentieth century, then it is not Just because of his innovation and other qualities embodied in the music, including the power of his musical personality, but also because he absorbed more from the entire modern world - both American and European - than his opponents." We could say this is Stravinsky.
Speaking of sequence music, what exactly is sequence music? In other words, why does sequence music have such a profound impact and significance on the process and development of modern and modern music? Sequential music is a new system of music creation that became popular in the mid-20th century.
As early as the 1940s, Schillinger (1895-1948) put forward some new ideas and principles in music theory and creation that were contrary to traditional concepts. He believed that music form is related to mathematics, and artistic creation can use Create and interpret a variety of mathematical notations, equations, or charts, diagrams, and tables. In the further development of the twelve-tone technique, Austria's Webern used a calculation-like method to organize musical elements into various sequences to compose music. After the Second World War, this kind of sequence structure has developed greatly. Some composers more consciously incorporate "all factors" of music (pitch, duration, intensity, timbre, attack, etc.) into a calculated order, which is called sequence music or comprehensive sequence music.
Nonetheless, people remain puzzled by Stravinsky's turn to serialism in his later years. Because as another representative figure of new music in the twentieth century, Schoenberg, the founder of the twelve-tone system, and Stravinsky have always had differences in artistic style and aesthetic concepts. Although they have been neighbors for many years, they never interact with each other. After the Second World War, sequence composition has become a very popular musical language. The use of new ways and methods to compose music was an astonishing step away from the constraints of tradition at the time, and played an important role in the enlightenment and development of modern music that cannot be ignored. Naturally, it has had varying degrees of influence on many young composers, including established ones. At this time, Kraft also actively introduced the works of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern to Stravinsky and suggested that Stravinsky study the twelve-tone system. And Stravinsky did show a lot of appreciation for Webern's work. Kraft recalled: “Whatever Stravinsky may have thought of Schoenberg before 1950, from then on the Russian-American no longer viewed the Austrian-American as his antagonist. , but as a great colleague who can learn from him and really learn something." At this time, the sequence composition method has reached a certain height and popularity, and some composers are no longer satisfied with just music. High material sequence principles, which believe that sequence can control all aspects of music. Such as rhythm, intensity, sound zone, playing method and sequence form, etc., all can form an orderly arrangement and development. This technique is reflected in the works of Babbitt (Milton), Boulez (Pierre), and NoNo (Luigi). This kind of music, which is called overall sequence or comprehensive sequence, with its boring connotation and difficult purely formal techniques, exposes the shortcomings of sequence music. At the same time, Stravinsky, who was in his seventies, absorbed sequence technology into his music step by step very carefully and thoughtfully. Stravinsky said in "Musical Poetics" that "the more controlled, restricted, and carefully considered art is, the freer it feels. ... Therefore, my freedom lies in myself for each task." Freedom of movement within a prescribed framework... It can even be said that the smaller the scope of my activities and the more obstacles I set for myself, the greater and more meaningful my freedom will be." Maybe it is. Based on the dominance of this creative thought, Stravinsky became more and more interested in sequence music, and the "experimental field" opened wider and wider, from the use of various sequences with less than twelve tones to the use of multiple sequences. Combination; from the use of part of the music or the sequence of a certain movement or section, to the use of the entire sequence; from various small vocal and instrumental music, to large-scale dance dramas, cantata, orchestral music, etc., *** creations have different genres and There are about twenty works in this form. Later, he became a composer of sequence music techniques with his own unique personality.
In fact, throughout Stravinsky's entire creative career, no matter which style his music turned to, his musical aesthetic ideas and creative principles were consistent. His neoclassical aesthetic thoughts are reflected in his profound understanding of tradition and innovation in the traditional sense. He believes: "Tradition is completely different from custom. ... Tradition comes from conscious and thoughtful acceptance. ... Tradition is based on the continuation of events and by no means implies the repetition of past events. It is like an ancestor's inheritance, and the successors Accept it in the tradition and make it bear fruit before passing it on. "The greatness of Stravinsky is that he understands that to reach the level and depth of the classics, he can only use the things of the past and remove the dross. Absorb its essence.
On the basis of retaining the traditional advantages, new factors and the flavor of the times are integrated with it to make it develop and grow. Creation should rely as much on old things as on new things. "However, the rational, objective, calm temperament held by neoclassicism, as well as the simple structure, clear timbre, and refined texture style are not incompatible with serialism, especially in the works of Stravinsky. There is an inherent connection. For example, polyphony has always been an important form in Stravinsky's creation. He always paid attention to the special status of melody in music, even ignoring or not considering the music in order to emphasize the melody lines of each part. Vertical harmony in the work. He believes that what still survives after all changes in the system is the melody. Therefore, he wrote the "Licekar" and "Septet" in the "Chorus". In any of his late sequence works, such as "Passacalia" and "Giger", "Double Canon", "Variations" and other works closely integrated with traditional genres, through Stravinsky. Exquisite orchestration skills, proficient polyphony and multi-part writing ability, unique rhythmic power, harmonic sounds of chromatic scale, diatonic scale, octatonic scale, medieval mode, church mode and natural tone system, as well as a unique understanding of music Interpretation, you will clearly interpret and feel that this is Stravinsky's music!
Stravinsky and Schoenberg are the pioneers and foundations of new music in the twentieth century! Their most common achievement is to break the traditional major and minor system based on seven tones, and strive to explore the possibilities of all other musical materials. Schoenberg achieved this goal by highly chromaticizing and abandoning the key. nature and mode, and use a contrapuntal writing technique that loses the sense of harmony, until the tonality eventually collapses, and a theoretical system of average twelve tones is established. In other words: the twelve semitones in the scale are separated from each other. , treat each other equally, thus fundamentally denying the functional relationship between mode and tonality within music. Stravinsky achieved this goal by inheriting and combining Schonberg's "tonal disintegration". This new music creation technique was developed to further develop the personality and characteristics of Schoenberg's expressionistic music by combining "free atonality" with "classical form". The new synthesis characterized by natural tones is a heterogeneous product of tonality. Therefore, in Stravinsky's late sequence music, he still used the "frame structure" and "circulation method" of the sequence to obtain. "Twelve-tonality"
From another perspective, the sequence factor has been foreshadowed in many of Stravinsky's previous works, such as "The Firebird" (Stravin). The chromatic theme of non-repetitive sounds in "The Rite of Spring" (an important representative work of Stravinsky's early Russian national style period); the unconventional rhythmic rebeating point in "The Rite of Spring" (a landmark work of Stravinsky's mid-neoclassical period) The use of interspersed with dissonant sounds; the variation development of the theme with sequential thinking in the variation movement of "Sonata for Two Pianos", etc., all inadvertently show obvious sequence factors.
It can be said that Si. Travinsky's music style and creative techniques are constantly developing and changing. His long-term creative practice and experience are the natural soil for accepting and developing sequence technology. In this soil, wonders of sequence technology will naturally grow. "The Ode Requiem is the final result after 65 years of development and change. This miracle was written by an 84-year-old man. It is no less surprising than The Firebird, which was written by a 27-year-old young man. ""
In early 1951, Stravinsky composed the three-act opera "The Rake's Progress", which was not only considered to be Stravinsky's new It is the pinnacle of the classical period and also marks the end of the neoclassical period. From then on, Stravinsky began a new process of creating using sequence techniques. This process lasted until 1966. During this period, the composer also went through a gradually deeper and more complex process in the use of sequence techniques. "Cantata" is Stravinsky's first sequence work, but the content of sequence technology is limited, and the twelve-tone composition technology is only tentatively penetrated. "Septet" further demonstrates the combination of sequence techniques and traditional techniques. The innovative consciousness shown in this combination is very eye-catching. In "In Memory of Dylan Thomas", the composer takes another step forward in the use of sequence techniques. This is Stravinsky's first work to use sequence techniques in all movements.
Although the original sequence still does not consist of 12 tones, it is more strict and orderly than the previous works with less than 12 tones. The emergence of "Elegy" became a new milestone in Stravinsky's late sequence music creation. In this work, the composer comprehensively adopted the twelve-tone sequence technique for creation for the first time, and it became a mature work that not only broadened the twelve-tone sequence technique, but also extremely skillfully combined various past creative experiences. "Movement" is a purely instrumental suite created by the composer in 1959. It is considered to be the most changeable work in the entire late works, with an obvious avant-garde style. The tonal center of this suite has been significantly weakened, and it is more closely related to the neo-modernism of works such as Boulez's "Structure" or Stockhausen's "Counterpoint" and Webern's "Concerto". Inseparable connection. At the same time, Stravinsky also greatly developed the sequence technology, using the loop method and the new form of vertical harmonic structure for the first time, emphasizing the four 12-note basic sequences (P-0, R-0, I-0, The application of IR-0), combined with techniques such as displacement, contraction, splitting, imitation, segmentation and motivational development, makes the sequence techniques more complex and changeable in various complex changes of rhythm and beat. In other later large-scale works, such as "Sermon, Narrative, Prayer" (chorus and orchestra), "The Flood" (TV musical), "Abraham and Isaac" (religious ballad), "Ode Requiem" "(chorus and orchestra), etc., one can feel that the composer's use of sequence creation techniques is more mature and complex, gradually forming irreplaceable personalization. This period also included some small works, such as "Double Canon" (string ensemble), "J.F.K.'s Elegy" (mezzo-soprano solo), "The Horn for the Opening of the New Theater" (two trumpets) and "The Owl and the Trumpet" "Cat" (vocal and piano), etc. These artistic sketches all use the twelve-tone sequence as the basis for the development of the music. The composer also demonstrated the universality and applicability of the twelve-tone creation technique in the field of the so-called "popular" genre. . It can be seen from these works that Stravinsky has gone wider and wider on the path of sequence creation, and with his high productivity and superb skills, he has ushered in the golden autumn of the composer's harvest!
For details, please see the article "Mo Dao Sang Yu Evening, the Sky Is Still Full of Glowing Clouds—The Transformation of Stravinsky's Late Musical Style and His Late Sequential Works"