{"id":252,"date":"2020-02-19T18:10:57","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T18:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/?p=252"},"modified":"2025-05-19T20:48:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T20:48:49","slug":"when-bad-things-happen-to-good-people-by-harold-kushner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/?p=252","title":{"rendered":"Stravinsky ~ Firebird: Berceuse and Finale<\/em> (1910)"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ module_class=”no-gap” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”1px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_enable_image=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Stravinsky ~ Firebird: Berceuse and Finale<\/em> (1910)<\/h1>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/The-Firebird-from-Russian-legend.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_layout=”dark” custom_margin=”-58px|||11px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

The firebird – Russian painting<\/em><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”1px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Russian-composer-Igor-Stravinsky.jpg” _builder_version=”4.16″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_layout=”dark” custom_margin=”-58px|||11px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Igor Stravinsky<\/em><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

In the early \u201870\u2019s I volunteered a few hours each week hosting a classical music program at St. Cloud State\u2019s ragged little campus FM radio station \u2013 which, at 50 watts, had a listening radius of maybe 10 blocks. As a classical geek, I was an outsider among the long-haired, chain-toking rock DJs at the station.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”|||3px||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

This made it all the more surprising when one day I found myself chatting with a guy named Kevin who was doing maintenance work on the station\u2019s equipment while I was playing a piece by Igor Stravinsky (yes, my microphone was turned off during this exchange \u2013 something I learned to be attentive to after a couple of early disasters).<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”1px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

I would have thought that Kevin would be the last guy on earth to have an opinion about a 20th-century composer of \u201cserious\u201d music, but he said to me \u2013 \u201cYou know, I like Stravinsky<\/em>.\u201d<\/strong> Being surprised at the comment, I offered the obvious (and not-too-clever) followup, uh, \u201cWhy?\u201d. Kevin responded immediately by saying \u201cWhatever piece it is he always sounds different<\/em>\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve replayed that conversation in my head many times over the years, and I have always come to the same conclusion \u2013 Kevin was absolutely right<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Stravinsky went through many stylistic changes over his long life<\/strong> that included stretches of time in Russia, France, Switzerland, and finally the United States. The Firebird<\/em> is among his earliest large orchestra compositions and remains an audience favorite to this day owing to its constantly shifting mix of orchestral colors, rhythms, and dramatic moods.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”443px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”1px||||false|false” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”596px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

The performance here features my bucket list choice for “conductor I’d most like to see before I check out”:\u00a0<\/em>Michael Tilson Thomas.<\/strong> MTT’s interpretations always keep me on the edge of my seat. In this video we see him conducting the San Francisco Orchestra in the final climactic minutes of Firebird<\/em> without a score\u00a0(how does he do it?<\/em>). Watch how he draws extremes of dynamics and tempi from the group.<\/p>\n

And this guy has musical interests ranging far beyond the concert stage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7zKdjmBKjHI&feature=youtu.be” image_src=”https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Conductor-Michael-Tilson-Thomas.jpg” thumbnail_overlay_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” _builder_version=”4.16″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A devotee of hard rock and cheap marijuana I knew in college once told me, \u201cI like Stravinsky … because every piece of his sounds different\u201d.<\/em> He was right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classical-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/The-Firebird-from-Russian-legend.jpg?fit=480%2C284&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=252"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3125,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions\/3125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}