A2 APPLIED SET WORKS

Background

• First performed on 15th May 1920
• Commissioned by Serge Diaghilev, the impresario who founded the Ballet Russes
• Pulcinella's relatively modest demands, in contrast to the huge orchestral demands of the ballet scores preceding WWI, are indicative of the reduced scale of Diaghilev's post-war enterprises
• This work is neoclassical in style
• Reflects a reaction against the emotionalism and 'giganticism' of late-Romantic music
• It uses 18th-century models
• The Sinfonia is based on music by Gallo
• The Gavotta is extracted from keyboard variations by Monza
• The Vivo is built on a cello sonata by Pergolesi
• Stravinsky goes further than arranging his 18th-century materials; instead, though retaining the broad outlines of the originals, he 'recomposes' them

Rhythm and Metre

• The basic rhythmic schemes and metres are disrupted by:
• Heavy off-beat accents (e.g. Vivo, bar 33)
• Persistent syncopation (e.g. Sinfonia, bars 17-18 in violin ii)
• Bars with differing time signatures (e.g. Sinfonia, bars 10-12)
• Introduction of long sustained notes at odds with 'foreground' music (e.g. Sinfonia, bars 7-9)
• Irregular groupings of shorter notes (e.g. Gavotta, groups of 5 (bar 27), 9 (bar 31), 11 (bar 73), 12 (bar 78)