War Symphony

The music of Stravinsky features on this BBC Music mag cover disk by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov. The disk commences with The Song Of The Nightingale which was considered in my very first post on this blog, so I'll move onto the two works that follow, the Symphony In C and the Symphony In Three Movements. The Symphony In C is a turbulent and unsettled work dating from a particularly tragic period in his life when his sister in law, eldest daughter, wife and mother all died in quick succession. Part of the work has the neo-classical feel that Stravinsky was experimenting with but there is also much jagged and jittery music that gives some intimation of the sad times he was living through without being specifically programmatic. The Symphony In Three Movements is the more overtly influenced by real life events with Stravinsky admitting it was effected by his viewing of newsreels from the events of WW2, with goose stepping Nazis, scorched earth tactics and the hoped for final victory of the Allies. It is a rhythmic work that in some ways harks back to his early ballet works but there are also vaguely jazzy sections and more use of the piano than is common in orchestral showpieces. Volkov was enjoying his honeymoon period with the BBCSSO at this point and together they produce fine performances on this disk.