An important early orchestral work by one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, thought for more than 100 years to have been irretrievably lost, has turned up at last in a pile of old manuscripts in a back room of the St Petersburg Conservatoire.
Igor Stravinsky composed his Pogrebal'naya Pesnya (Funeral Song) in memory of his teacher, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, shortly after Rimsky's death in June 1908. The 12-minute work was performed only once, in a Russian symphony concert conducted by Felix Blumenfeld in the Conservatoire in January 1909, but was always thought to have been destroyed in the 1917 revolutions or the civil war that followed.
Stravinsky recalled it as one of his best early works, but could not remember the actual music. He was, he said, "curious to see what I was composing just before The Firebird", the ballet that brought him instant fame when it was staged by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris in June 1910.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/06/igor-stravinsky-lost-work-emerges-after-100-years
(I saw this on MN Dave's Twitter)
Cool beans.
I want to hear this as soon as possible.
Quote from: karlhenning on September 06, 2015, 05:03:17 AM
Huge news. (http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/06/igor-stravinsky-lost-work-emerges-after-100-years)
This is the Chant funèbre, Op.5 in memoriam Rimsky-Korsakov, whereof the composer wrote (in Chroniques de ma vie):
Very exciting news and I can't wait to hear it when its recorded.
Nice save, North Star.
And thanks to Karl for noticing this and bringing it to our attention, even though I missed his original comment.
Thanks Karl. :D
Quote from: some guy on September 07, 2015, 07:54:13 AM
I want to hear this as soon as possible.
That might be some time:
" (the full score has not turned up and will need reconstructing) "
Quote from: Scion7 on September 08, 2015, 12:00:58 AM
That might be some time:
" (the full score has not turned up and will need reconstructing) "
If they found a full set of parts, reasonable reconstruction of the score should mostly be a mechanical task of folding all the parts into a Sibelius (or Finale) file. That task done, there should be no dearth of orchestras ready to bring the music to light (to mix metaphors . . . .)
That clicking sound you hear is me tapping my foot impatiently. :)
Quote from: some guy on September 08, 2015, 04:12:40 AM
That clicking sound you hear is me tapping my foot impatiently. :)
Oh, I thought that was all of Stockhausen's compositions. (they're interchangeable) :P
Quote from: some guy on September 07, 2015, 11:54:04 PM
Nice save, North Star.
And thanks to Karl for noticing this and bringing it to our attention, even though I missed his original comment.
Thanks Karl. :D
My pleasure!