Agon: A reflection on MY journey

Initially, I had a different outlook of this project, one that involved staring into the depths of a score and trying to come out with some greater meaning or sense of the piece. But I soon found out that this was not a feasible, reasonable or productive approach. I began to look into the different areas and qualities of collaboration and the relationships that are embedded in these collaborations. While traditional analysis of the piece was a helpful stepping-stone in the right direction I felt as though I learned more about the piece through observation of the relationships between and expressions of both Stravinsky and Balanchine.

While I found this project quite difficult—due to lack of resources (it is a phenomenally obscure piece and very challenging to locate both scores and videos) the challenge was worth it and I took a lot away from this assignment and learned a lot not only about the techniques and applications of 20^th century music but also about the complexity of relationships—both creatively and personally.

Music Dances: Balanchine choreographs Stravinsky

I apologize for the "bootleg" quality of these videos...There were no videos available on Youtube and I was forced to resort to video taping a video, I also apologize for having to link a download to view the videos, both Youtube and the Blogger video uploaders were not cooperating.

Video 1: Introduction

“Watching Balanchine’s choreography was like hearing the music with one’s eyes”- Stravinsky

The praise between the two artists (Stravinsky and Balanchine) is unusual and demonstrates their respect for and relationship with one another.

Video 2: Further Development of Introduction

Stephanie Jordan confirms our assumptions of the tight-knit relationship between the two artists and gives us a preface for Agon’s importance not only as a musical composition but as a revolutionary development in the world of 20^th century dance/music.

Video 3: Bransle gay, "Visualizing the sound of music"

Highlights the connection between movement and music: especially the steps correspondence with notes in “phrases” (something we touched on earlier).

“Its an unusual musical structure and since there’s something that happens on every note and nothing repeats you have to learn that and uh, highs and lows and ins and outs…it’s a lot of fun and strangely enough I’ve learned that and never forgotten it” – Suzanne Farrell

“Musicians now are more comfortable playing Stravinsky. You know, in the early days it was somewhat cumbersome or difficult because they weren’t used to playing that kind of music”- Suzanne Ferrell

Video 4: First Pas de Trois

Further exploration of movement in combination with pitch as well as the relationship between the motivic lines.

“steps begin to relate to what you hear…the dance anticipates the rhythm” - Stephanie Jordan

Discussion of “pulse throughout” and the utilization of rests with movement in silences.

Agon: From a different angle--A look at relationships

As I stated in the previous entry, I decided to shift my focus from a strictly musical aspect and point of view to a look of the collaboration of both Stravinsky and Balanchine as well as dance and music. I believe that this is more beneficial to myself and any others who choose to learn about this work.

Relationships are essential and inevitable--no matter what characteristics a relationship may posses, it still exists.

The relationship between Stravinsky and Balanchine was a strong, professional, healthy, productive relationship. Balanchine choreographed thirty-nine of Stravinsky's work--they had a good groove together and their sense of communication was impeccable. It was as if Balanchine could interpret and express in movement every minute detail that Stravinsky chose to write about in his music. Nothing was haphazardly completed and both men seemed to feed off of each other's creative energy; an unstoppable power couple and a force to be reckoned with and ultimately admired in the dance and music world.

Agon specifically displays the strong relationship between dance and music, which is in essence why ballet and other genres of dance/music exist: expression.

This relationship is especially present in the serial movements of Stravinsky's revolutionary ballet. When I first heard this piece and read about it, I wondered how the movements would correspond the the music--specifically the tone row-- would certain pitches have certain movements? Would the movements relate at all to the pitch, timbre, rhythm or other music elements?

After watching an amazing video titled: Music Dances: Balanchine choreographs Stravinsky, I not only received my answers but also more information on the correspondence between music and dance as well as Stravinsky and Balanchine.

There was indeed a strong relationship between the tone rows and the movement laid out by Balanchine-- Each pitch had a movement, not a movement specific to that pitch but it was as if the mechanism of movement followed the rhythm and occurrence of pitch. The dancers would count bars according to the number of pitches within a phrase meaning one phrase may be counted to 8 while the one immediately following it is counted to 11. Another interesting thing to note is that while Balanchine utilized all of the pitches and melodic material, he also took advantage of the rests, allowing for movements in moments of silence creating the feeling of an ever-present pulse throughout each section and really creating what the film depicts as a "visualization of the sound of the music".

Agon: An Analysis by Bonnie Jacobi

In my research, I stumbled upon an analysis essay written about 11 years ago by a doctoral candidate, Bonnie S. Jacobi. While Jacobi's analysis was very thorough, focused and informative, I found that we had different approaches to the piece. While she looked into the structure of the tone rows and hexachords within the piece--concerning herself mainly with just the music, I found myself compelled to pay more attention to the relationship between Stravinsky and Balanchine as well as the relationship between the dance and the music itself. Nevertheless, Jacobi's findings within the theory realm of this piece are in line with that of mine and I would like to include these in my blog as well as add to them. I will arrange this post in terms of subject matter of Jacobi's essay.

Meter/Metrical Patterns:

"As Balanchine strayed from the traditional French court dance style in his choreography, Stravinsky also created new paths in his musical score. One example is Stravinsky's selection of meter for the Bransles. Traditionally, the Bransle simple and the Bransle double were written in duple meter, while the Bransle gay was written in triple meter. In Agon,the Bransle simple is in duple meter as expected. However, the meter of the Bransle double fluctuates between triple and duple throughout the piece. Each time, the new meter is sustained for fewer measures."

Jacobi then goes on to analyze the Bransle gay and its meter...

"It is the Bransle gay in which Stravinsky most successfully departs from tradition to achieve his own style. While retaining the expected triple meter in the castanets throughout (3/8), Stravinsky juxtaposes this 3/8 meter with irregular subdivisions such as 7/16 and 5/16 meters in the harp, flute, bassoon, clarinet and strings. Metrically, these instruments are treated as a group, moving together in time against the ostinato of the castanets."

I feel that Stravinsky's choices in effect give the dance and dancers more character and more to work with--as I will discuss in later entries, Stravinsky's choices are well complimented by Balanchine's interpretive choreography and these Bransles (and their interesting meter and feel) are no exception.

Instrumentation and Concept:

It is said that the ballet has no "story" or "plot" yet their is a consistent feeling and theme of competition throughout the piece. Stravinsky displays this well in his choices of instrumentation generally representing the women with Woodwinds and the men with the brass.

Jacobi elaborates on this:

" For example, the Bransle gay, which is a movement written for a solo female dancer, does not contain any brass instruments but rather flutes, clarinet and bassoon."

And although there is a large contrast between the timbres of the two families of instruments, Jacobi reminds us (and I agree) that there is a certain "balance" maintained.

The tone rows/hexachords:

Jacobi focuses her "harmonic" analysis on the three Bransles, the Double Pas de Quarte, and the Coda (the former and latter being the most serial movements of the ballet). Jacobi gives us specific figurations of Tone rows to look at (including some derived from other theorists).

The First is the row of the Double Pas de Quarte:

It is interesting and important to note that the Double Pas de Quarte is NOT categorized as a serial movement-- Serial elements are involved and this tone row is implied very subtly.

The Second is the row of the Coda:

This row is fully developed and employed within this movement.

The Third is are the Hexachords that make up the structure of the Bransles:

The Fourth is the combination of H1 and H2 (not pictured) to make up the row for the Bransle Double:

Jacobi's thoughts on the Bransle Double and its structure and complexity:

"Not only is the Bransle double the most complex of the three movements, but it can also be viewed as a culmination of the three. Its complexity stems from extensive use of counterpoint, greater interaction between the instruments and an increase in the length of the movement. It is summative in that it includes both the duple and triple meter of the previous Bransles, it includes all of the instruments used in the Bransles up until this point (except the castanets) and all of the various permutations of H1 as well as the complete twelve-tone row, not to mention several rhythmic motives which were heard previously (such as the grace-note rhythm from the Bransle gay)."

I must be honest when I say that Hexachords weren't even on my mind when analyzing this piece--but now that they are the serialism of the Bransles' in particular makes a little more sense and I have a better approach for comprehension and understanding.

Agon: The details of the dance

From Wikipedia:

The composition's long gestation period covers an interesting juncture in Stravinsky's composing career, in which he moved from a diatonic musical language to one based on twelve-tone technique; the music of the ballet thus demonstrates a unique symbiosis of musical idioms. The ballet has no story, but consists of a series of dance movements in which various groups of dancers interact in pairs, trios, quartets etc. A number of the movements are based on 17th-century French court dances – sarabande, galliardand bransle.

The Saraband

- A dance in triple meter

- "The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation. The quarters are said to corresponded with dragging steps in the dance."

An Example of this dance:

The Galliardand

- "a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century"

- usually consists of 5 steps: "right, left, right, left, cadence"

- "characterized by leaps, jumps, hops, and other similar figures. The main feature that defines a galliard step is that the last two beats consist of a large jump, landing with one leg ahead of the other"

An Example of this dance:

The Bransle (or Branle)

- "16th-century French dance style which moves mainly from side to side, and is performed by couples in either a line or a circle"

- "The single branle consists of a phrase of two bars, followed by a phrase of one bar and appears in numerous places"

- "The double branle has a simple form involving two phrases of two bars each"

An Example of this dance:

Balanchine: A brief history of the man behind the dance

George Balanchine

- Born January 22, 1904 in St. Petersburg, Russia

- "One of the 20th century's foremost choreographers, a pioneer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and ballet master of New York City Ballet: he created modern ballet, based on his deep knowledge of classical forms and techniques"

- "He was a choreographer known for his musicality; he did not illustrate music but expressed it in dance"

- He worked quite a bit with Stravinsky-- Choreographing 39 of his ballets-- Including Agon.

Agon: The First 12-Tone Ballet: Preliminary Analysis

I decided to listen to the piece and write down my thoughts and assumptions before watching the ballet and before reading other analyses…This is what I came up with (a very rough analysis, movement by movement):

1. Pas de quarte

· West Side Story mixed with Asian Essence

· Even the first movement is not completely tonal

· The strings build anticipation; a feeling of urgency also a fanfare like tendency in the brass

2. Double Pas de quarte

· Reminds me of flight of the bumblebee

· I see someone searching for someone—the hunt is on

· Lower instruments such as brass appear to have a fixed function of a pedal or steady/long pattern

3. Triple Pas de quarte

· All three Pas de quarte seem to start out with similar rhythmic patterns/structures—ascending instruments that build tension—all feeling like some sort of hunt or search

4. Prelude

· Conversation between percussion and brass

· Large crescendo leading to a calmer tonal progression

· This is a fairly tonal movement

5. Saraband-Step

· Xylophone—crucial part

· Still pretty tonal towards beginning

· Gradually weaves in and out of tonality

6. Gaillarde

· Very cluttered sound at beginning—doesn’t exactly read as “tonal” to me

· Final falls into a more “traditional; western classical sound”

· Contrast between timbres of instruments is somewhat overwhelming

7. Coda

· The search is back on

· Serial

· Image of a staircase

· Large use of register

· Great sense of conversation between instruments—yet still embodies individuality

· First movement where I was able to hear the crowd—this is a live performance

8. Interlude

· Starts out with percussion similar to previous movements

· Much like the Prelude—revisiting some of those ideas?

9. Bransle Simple

· Sounds like confusion or argument

· Serial?

· Ends with a leading cadence into the next movement

10. Bransle gay

· Ostinato

· Variations on the same rhythmic pattern until the woodwinds enter with their own ideas

· Somewhat tonal but not quite

11. Bransle Double

· Starts very loud and alarming

· “Search” is back on

· Not Tonal

· Old Horror movie feel (brass especially)

· Somewhat Twilight Zone music

12. Interlude

· Begins with booming percussion

· Again, revisits material in first Interlude/Prelude

· Direct quotation from earlier movements

· Peaceful at end

13. Pas de deux

· Eerie

· Longest movement

· Primarily Strings

· Serial

· Definite Motives

· Tension/dissonance

· Sense of Rise and Fall

· 3:45 brass and piano enter—changes feel of motives and of rise and fall

· Pulsing Strings

· Feels unfinished

14. Coda

· Rushing/Confused feeling

· Serial

· Quotations from earlier movements

15. 4 Duos

· Climbing feeling

· Mimicking

16. 4 Trios

· Hunt is on

· Big Crescendo—much like previous movements

17. Coda

· Feels much like an encompassment of Coda and Interludes

· Barely any “new” material

· Search/Hunt is still on

· Conversation still moving throughout instruments

Overall, I feel like there is a large emphasis on spatial relationships, timbre, and register. Conversation and organized chaos are also big factors within this piece. I am interested to see what choreographer George Balanchine did to compliment Stravinsky’s score and tell the story of the “ballet without a story”

Agon: The First 12-Tone Ballet

Stravinsky wrote Agon between the years of 1953-57 (Stravinsky began writing in 1953 and then took a break to work on another piece). It is known for being the first 12-tone ballet-- something very controversial for the time. What I find most interesting is that it is not completely serial, that is, the piece begins tonal and develops into serialism as Stravinsky begins implementing the 12-tone technique. Only a portion of the 24 minute Ballet is technically classified as "serial". Theorists have tried to decode the reason for mixed executions by Stravinsky, some say that he started as a tonal composer and when he returned to the piece he was a serialist--although that time line doesn't exactly make sense because it has been revealed that some of the serialism had been employed before his break from Agon.

Whatever the reason, it is still fascinating to see a piece begin tonal and expand into serialism--its almost as if we are being let into Stravinsky's mind, thought process, and journey in and out of tonality-- a rare opportunity.

Agon: The First 12-tone Ballet

Stravinsky's Journey: 3 periods of Style

Stravinsky's works can be categorized and separated into three stylistic phases, we will focus on his Opera/Theater, Ballet and Orchestral Works:

Russian Period: 1908-1919

The beginning of Stravinsky's exploration of Composition

• • • 
      
  • • • Symphony in E flat major, Op. 1 (1907)
  • • • Scherzo fantastique, Op. 3 (1908)
  • • • Feu d'artifice (Fireworks), Op. 4 (1908)

• The Firebird (L'oiseau de feu) (1910)

• Petrushka (1911)

• The Rite of Spring (Le sacre du printemps) (1913)

• • The Nightingale (Le Rossignol), 3-act opera (1914)

• Les noces (The Wedding), for soloists, choir, four pianos and percussion (1914–17; 1919–23)

• • Renard, a burlesque for 4 pantomimes and chamber orchestra (1916)

• • • Le chant du rossignol (Song of the Nightingale) (1917)

• • Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale), for chamber ensemble and three speakers (1918)

Neoclassical Period (1920-1954)

His last dabble in classicism before the plunge into Serialism

Pulcinella, for chamber orchestra and soloists (1920)

Mavra, one-act opera (1922)

Oedipus rex, 2-act opera-oratorio (1927)

Le baiser de la fée (The Fairy's Kiss) (1928, rev. 1950)

Apollo (Apollon musagète), for string orchestra (1928, rev. 1947)

Perséphone, mélodrame for speaker, soloists, chorus and orchestra (1933)

Jeu de cartes (Card Game) (1936)

Danses concertantes for chamber orchestra (1942)

Scènes de ballet (1944)

Orpheus, for chamber orchestra (1947)

The Rake's Progress, 3-act opera (1951)

Serial Period (1954-1968)

Stravinsky develops his compositional skills beyond the realm of tonality

Agon (1954-57)

Greeting Prelude for orchestra (1955)

The Flood, television opera (1962)

8 Instrumental Miniatures for 15 Players (1963, orchestration of Les Cinq Doigts)

Variations (Aldous Huxley in Memoriam) (1963/1964)

Canon on a Popular Russian Tune (1965)

Complete List of Stravinsky's Pieces