Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite Part 5

Dr. Joseph Straus, Reuven Herman, and Josh Lucan continue our multi-part series on Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (the 1919 edition) and examine the compositional, harmonic, and orchestrational complexities of the piece.

Written for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company, The Firebird was the first of several momentous collaborations between the two men, and interestingly, was before Stravinsky rose to fame, as it predated both The Rite of Spring and Petrushka. Throughout Stravinsky’s life, he revised the score to the suite at least three times. The ASA volunteer team worked hard on a new, custom engraving of the work, correcting various mistakes from older editions and readying it for detailed study in signature ASA fashion.