Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920)

Two years after the death of Claude Debussy, Stravinsky was asked by La Revue Musicale to write a piece in his memory which would appear in a book including tributes by other composers as well. He was delighted to be asked, and in 1959, he explained that enthusiasm, saying “the musicians of my generation and I myself owe the most to Debussy.” The piece he submitted was the Chorale (arranged for piano solo), which concludes the work. The music of the Symphonies draws on Russian folk elements, and is constructed of “contrasting episodes at three different yet related tempos.” The chorale which concludes the piece was originally published in the magazine La Revue musicale in an edition entitled Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy, which included short pieces from several composers, including Maurice Ravel and Manuel de Falla, dedicated to Debussy’s memory. It appeared as a piano score in the Tombeau. Instrumentation: 3(3dPicc)+Afl.2+1.2+Acl.3(3dCbsn): 4.3.3.1.