Igor Stravinsky is remembered mostly for his innovation, dissonance, and modernism. If you were forced to summarize his career and legacy in one sentence, that sentence would likely mention how his Rite of Spring in 1913 shocked the music world and led many to walk out of the concert hall at its premiere.
However, after the end of the first World War, Stravinsky entered a decades-long period in which he retreated somewhat from the modernism that marked his earlier career.
This might be connected to his return to the church, a desire for order following the horrors of the war, or simply his desire to explore musical forms. Whatever the reason, one result is this stunningly simple setting of Ave Maria.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The straightforward Gregorian chant style makes it meditative.
2. The way the bass part is continuously climbing the scale makes it uplifting.
3. The final “amen” doesn’t land on the root of the scale. It’s cheeky in a very restrained way. I can almost imagine Stravinsky peering at the listener over top of his iconic glasses, saying, “yeah, you didn’t see that coming, did you?”
Recommended listening activity:
Finding some art you made as a child and re-making it as an adult.