If I were a Russian...

I'm working on a concerto. 

Stravinsky's for Piano and Winds. It's neoclassical weirdness. I am a Rachmaninoff lover...so much so that...well, I'll save that for another blog. 

Anyway, I'm a hopeless Romantic when it comes to classical music. If I believed in reincarnation, I would've sworn that I was Russian in my previous life. :) 

I "feel" Russian Romantic music - Rach, early Stravinsky, Korsakov, Balakirev, Mussorgsky, etc. So when I heard the Stravinsky concerto, I wasn't immediately enamoured but I figured it'd be good for me to grow out of my comfort zone, keeping my roots planted in Romanticism as I approached the piece. 

Then I read on good old Wikipedia that Stravinsky said that he wanted no Romantic hands to touch his beloved concerto. Psh! Fine! Whatever! Then I started practicing... 

All I can say now is, 

"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow..." 

This piece is amazing! It's a new flavor, a new cuisine for me. I mean, it's absolutely beautiful. 

When I judge a piece of music...well, judge is not the right word...um...when I assess a piece of music, some of the questions I ask myself are: 

"How did the composer do that?"

"Did he mean that?" 

"Did he hear this in his head before he wrote it down or is he playing with sonorities on the piano?" 

With this piece, Stravinsky's strengths are evident. He meant every note, every rhythm throughout this work of art. The attention to form that is blatantly obvious does not overshadow the fact that Stravinsky "felt" this music. 

It's not just strict formulaic writing. Like Mozart, Stravinsky was able to pull off massive creativity and emotion within the form. 

That struggle between form and untamed emotion is so appealing to me and is one of the unifying characteristics in all of my favorite compostions. Being a neoclassical composition, this concerto seems to already have an inborn anachronistic conflict, due to the Stravinskian dissonances and rhythms coupled with the strict Classical mentality of it all.

I think I've talked about this piece enough already. You should listen to it! I recommmend hearing The Royal Edition recording. I've placed it in the My Favorites widget on the side. Check it out!