''Pribaoutki'' () is a cycle of four songs composed by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

in 1914 to Russian texts by

Alexander Afanasyev Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (; – ) was a Russian Slavist and ethnographer best known for publishing nearly 600 East Slavic and Russian fairy and folk tales, one of the largest collections of folklore in the world. This collection was ...

. Its Russian title has no direct English equivalent, although

Richard Taruskin Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...

suggests "nonsense rhymes" or "jingles." (The French subtitle appearing in the score, ', is descriptive, not a translation.) ''Pribaoutki'' takes about four minutes to perform.

Songs

The titles of the four songs are: # "Kornílo" ("Uncle Kornilo") # "Natashka" ("Little Natalie") # "Polkovnik" ("The Colonel") # "Starets i zayats" ("The Old Man and the Hare")

Instrumentation

''Pribaoutki'' is written for low voice and instrumental ensemble. Stravinsky is said to have preferred a male singer, although the work is commonly performed by

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

. The eight-member ensemble consists of:

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

(doubling

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, and

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

History

''Pribaoutki'' was composed between June and September 1914, just as

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

was breaking out. During this time, Stravinsky was living in Switzerland: at Salvan during the summer, and Clarens in September. Walsh, Stephen. ''Stravinsky: A Creative Spring: Russia and France, 1882–1934.'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 2000), pp. 238, 244.

Premières

''Pribaoutki'' was first heard in Paris (Salle des Agriculteurs) on November 20, 1918, in a program that also included the '' Berceuses du chat''; both works were accompanied by piano in this performance. The first performance with instrumental ensemble was given in Vienna on June 6, 1919, at a concert of

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

's Society for Private Musical Performances (Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen). Again, the program also included the ''Berceuses du chat''.

References

External links

* Full score. (Geneva: Ad. Henn, 1917). * {{Authority control Songs with music by Igor Stravinsky Classical song cycles 1914 compositions Chamber music by Igor Stravinsky Songs with instrumental ensemble