Igor Stravinsky was a Romantic composer and a Modern Day composer, but we put him mostly in the Modern Day category: Modern music! The greats include Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Prokofiev, and Britain’s favorite Benji. What’s that noise?! It’s sometimes rather strange when atonality pervades most every range. Ohhhh, this is the musical timeline! It starts with the Early Age. Then it’s Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical, Romantic, and not to forget the Modern Day!

Stravinsky composed his Concerto in D Major, including the second movement called “Arioso”, in 1947 when he was asked by a European chamber orchestra to compose a piece to celebrate their 20th anniversary. An arioso is usually a song in an opera; it’s similar to an aria but less formal. In this piece, though, Stravinsky composes it for strings. The lyrical melody rises and falls and stretches at times.

“Arioso” has a moderate tempo, and the gently-moving melody could be described as either happy or sad. It’s almost like Stravinsky leaves the mood of the piece up to the listener. Does it sound happy or sad or something else to you?

Review questions:

1. Who is the composer and which musical era is he from?

2. What is the name of this piece?

3. Which instruments play this piece?

4. What did the composer compose this piece for?

5. What is the mood of this piece: happy, sad, or something else?