Scherzo à la Russe

A scherzo for Hollywood - Based on music-sketches of the Hollywood film "The North Star" (1943), Igor Stravinsky composed two versions of his Scherzo à la Russe. The symphonic version, which is most played in the present day was premiered by the San Francisco Symphony in 1946. For Paul Whiteman, the self-appointed "King of Jazz" and Bandleader of an entertainment orchestra which was very popular in the 1920s and mainly played symphonic jazz, Stravinsky orchestrated a second version for jazz orchestra.
The defining characteristics of the Scherzo à la Russe are the fast tempi, the predominating rhythmic elements, unusual phrasing, and a structure with three main ideas, repeating the scherzo with two trios in the middle. Typically the scherzo is recognisable by its march-like, stomping rhythm and is represented by the piano, the violoncello, the double-bass and the bass drum. By contrast, the brass-section, working in opposition to the whole orchestra, tries to dissolve the scherzo rhythm with forceful syncopation. The first trio represents a complete contrast to the scherzo – achieved primarily by the orchestral scoring, which is reduced to the size of a chamber orchestra. The second trio is divided into a three-part form, in which both the first and third sections are based on themes from the scherzo, leading to and from the central part of the trio. The middle section presents a type of fanfare, which is characterized by the rhythmical and virtuosic use of the brass- and percussion-sections.
"I am sorry that I cannot tell you an amusing story about my Scherzo à la Russe because there is no story about this work. Furthermore, if music cannot captivate the listeners by itself, then an amusing story will be meaningless. Well, all I can say about my Scherzo à la Russe is how the title shows, that it is composed in the spirit of Russian folk music, but without the use of a specific folk melody. You ask me about my inspiration while composing this work. I answer: The object of my inspiration lies always in the music itself and never on things outside of the music."
– Igor Stravinsky