Stravinsky, Igor. (1882–1971) [Dushkin, Samuel. (1891–1976)]
Autograph Letter to Dushkin with Revisions to the Violin Concerto
Important autograph letter from the composer to the violinist for whom he wrote his Violin Concerto (1931) and the Duo Concertante (1932). 4 pp. on oblong cards (14 x 9 cm), Voreppe, 6/10/31. Signed "I Stravinsky" at the conclusion and again on the holograph envelope. From the collection of Dushkin's grandaughter.The composer states that there are "all sorts of things to do before my departure and still all sorts of notes to correct in thick ink," going on to include musical annotations for final changes to the Violin Concerto, completed in the summer of 1931 and premiered on October 23, 1931 in Berlin, less than two weeks after this letter was composed. "I beg you to please immediately send a card to Strecker, telling him that he must put a slur between fa and re [musical notation] where it is lacking in...the Klavierauszug and the orchestral score. I don't dare touch it for the danger of....your bow towards the end of the phrase: [musical notation] where I don't mind if the re is up or down bow."
Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D is a neoclassical violin concerto in four movements and one of the undisputed 20th century masterpieces in the form. The idea of a violin concerto was born in the mind of Willy Strecker of B. Schotts Söhne, Stravinsky's music publisher at the time, who proposed to Stravinsky that he compose something for the young violinist Samuel Dushkin, assuring Stravinsky that he could consult with Dushkin about technical issues (White 1979, 368). Stravinsky noted in his autobiography that Dushkin's availability for advice was a factor in his undertaking the Violin Concerto.
Stravinsky began sketching the Concerto in Paris early in 1931, with composition beginning in earnest in Nice, where the first two movements were completed and the third begun. In the summer, Stravinsky moved to the Château de la Véronnière in Voreppe in Isère, where he completed the third movement and wrote all of the fourth (White 1979, 369).
Though Stravinsky told his publisher he wanted to write "a true virtuoso concerto", "the texture is always more characteristic of chamber music than orchestral music. I did not compose a cadenza, not because I did not care about exploiting violin virtuosity, but because the violin in combination was my real interest. But virtuosity for its own sake has only a small role in my Concerto, and the technical demands of the piece are relatively tame "(V. Stravinsky and Craft 1978, 306; I. Stravinsky and Craft 1982, 47–48; quoted in Pople 1991, 3). (8445)
Signature Classical Music