Agon (Stravinsky)

Agon (1957) is a ballet for a twelve dancers, with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by George Balanchine. Composition began in December 1953 and concluded in April 1957; the music was first performed on June 17, 1957 in Los Angeles conducted by Robert Craft, while the first stage performance was given by the New York City Ballet on December 1, 1957. The composition's long gestation period covers an interesting juncture in Stravinsky's composing career, in which he moved from a diatonic musical language to one based on twelve-tone technique; the music of the ballet thus demonstrates a unique symbiosis of musical idioms. The ballet has no story, but consists of a series of dance movements in which various groups of dancers interact in pairs, trios, quartets etc. A number of the movements are based on 17th-century French court dances – saraband, galliard and bransle.

Instrumentation

3 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes and English horn, 2 clarinets and bass clarinet, 2 bassoons and contrabassoon; 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 2 trombones and bass trombone; harp, piano, mandolin, timpani, tom, xylophone, and castanets; strings

References

• Joseph, Charles M., Stravinsky and Balanchine: A Journey of Invention
• White, Eric Walter, Stravinsky: the composer and his works

External links

• The Bransles of Stravinsky's Agon : A Transition to Serial Composition By Bonnie S. Jacobi