The Music of Stravinsky:  An Overview

Early Works

Scherzo fantastique (1909) - orchestra
Fireworks (1909) - orchestra
The Fire Bird (1910) - ballet
Petrushka (1911) - ballet
Le Sacre du printemps (1913) - ballet

1913 - 1923

A change of style; most noticeable feature -- replacement of large orchestra with small combinations

L'Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale; 1918) - ballet
Les Noces (The Wedding; 1917-23) - ballet
Pulcinella (1919) - ballet
Octet for Wind Instruments (1923)

Neo-Classicism

Octet for Wind Instruments (1923)
Sonata (1924) - piano
Serenade in A (1925) - piano
Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King; 1927) - opera-oratorio
Le Baiser de la Fée (The Fairy's Kiss; 1928) - ballet
Apollon musagète (Apollo, Leader of the Muses; 1928) - ballet
Capriccio for piano and orchestra (1929)
Symphony of Psalms (1930) -choir / orchestra
Violin Concerto (1931)
Duo Concertant (for violin and piano; 1932)
Perséphone (1934) - ballet-melodrama
Concerto for Two Pianos (1935)
Dumbarton Oaks Concerto in E-flat (1938)
Symphony in C (1940)
Symphony in Three Movements (1945)
Basle Concerto in D (1946)
Mass (1948)
The Rake's Progress (1951) - opera

Late Works (Serialism)

Septet (1953)
In Memoriam Dylan Thomas (1954) - song
Canticum Sacrum (1955) - cantata
Agon (1954-57) - ballet
Threni (1958) - ballet
Movements (1959) - piano and orchestra
A Sermon, a Narrative, and a Prayer (1961) - voices and orchestra
The Flood (1962)
Abraham and Isaac (1963) - voices and orchestra
Orchestra Variations (1964)
Requiem Canticles (1965)

His style

Rhythm

- introduces an irregular pattern of rhythm after a regular one has been established
- the regular beat may be maintained in one part against an irregular one in another
- a rhythmic motive may be shifted from place to place in the measure
- use of silences

Harmony

- organized around tonal centers
- ambiguous chords
- bitonality
- simultaneous use of both major and minor thirds of a triad

Orchestration

- unusual groups of instruments
- each piece has a color of its own
- the particular color is part of the particular musical concept