Stravinsky – Symphony of Psalms Mvmt III = 48/80

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPNrvzdn3qI

"Released by Decca records, this is Sir Georg Solti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Symphony of Psalms Movement III = 48-80, composed by Igor Stravinsky. This piece was composed in 1930 and was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. There are no names for the movements other than what the quarter/eighth note is equal to, which is 48/80 bpm, respectively. The music for this symphony was written to accompany the Psalm being sung, not the Psalm being sung as accompaniment to the orchestra.

The text is from Psalm 150 and sung in Latin. Also, this is the only movement to use almost the entire passage of the Psalm. The composer was quoted as saying, "The allegro in Psalm 150 was inspired by a vision of Elijah's chariot climbing the Heavens; never before had I written anything quite so literal as the triplets for horns and piano to suggest the horses and chariot.

The final hymn of praise must be thought of as issuing from the skies; agitation is followed by the calm of praise. In setting the words of this final hymn I cared only for the sounds of the syllables and I have indulged to the limit my besetting pleasure of regulating prosody in my own way." This recording was among the conductor's final performances before his passing in 1997. As always, comments are welcome and encouraged."

Leave a Reply