Igor Stravinsky Symphony in C major Moderato alla breve 00:00 Larghetto concertante 10:09 Allegretto 16:30 Largo; Tempo giusto, alla breve 21:37
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra En Shao, conductor
Bound by a pregnant motto cell, the intervals of a minor/major second and a - major/minor third contained within the span of a fourth, and by persistent, distinctively spaced, first-inversion rather than root-position C major cadences, the neo-classically derived Symphony in C (Paris autumn 1938-Beverley Hills August 1940), \"composed to the Glory of God [and] dedicated to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of its existence\", was first performed in Chicago on 7th November 1940, conducted by Stravinsky. \"Composed during the most tragic year of my life\" (Themes and Conclusions , London ed. 1972), its genesis coincided, privately, with the deaths of his elder daughter, wife and mother, and, publicly, with the Munich crisis and the outbreak of war in Europe. \"It is no exaggeration to say that I survived in the weeks that followed only by working on the Symphony - which is not to say that the music exploits my grief...” From Music Notes by Ateş Orga