Feu d'artifice

Feu d'artifice, op. 4 (Fireworks, Russian "Feyerverk") is an early composition by Igor Stravinsky, written in 1908. The work is an orchestral fantasy, and usually takes about five minutes to perform.

Stravinsky composed "Feu d'artifice" as a wedding present for Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's daughter Nadezhda and Maximilian Steinberg, who had married a few days before her father's death. "Feu d'artifice" helped develop Stravinsky's reputation as a composer, although it is not considered representative of his mature work. The work has hints of bi-tonality but is for the most part, in comparison with Stravinsky's later work, very tonal. It has the form of a scherzo but is still labeled "orchestral fantasy" because of its short length. Alexander Siloti conducted the premiere in 1909. Stravinsky got the commission from Serge Diaghilev to write "The Firebird" (1910) in part because Diaghilev heard this piece of music, and was impressed with its orchestration.

elected recorded versions

*Hans Werner Henze conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra (broadcast in 1985 by the Radio Nederland Transcription Service as part of Program 8504; also includes Richard Strauss's "Vier Letzte Lieder" (Bernard Haitink conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra; Gundula Janowitz, soprano) and Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 10: Adagio" (Hans Vonk conducting the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra)
*Charles Dutoit conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (released on Polygram 14409 in 1990; disc also includes "L'Oiseau de feu" and Scherzo Fantastique, op. 3)
*Seiji Ozawa conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (released on RCA 61557 in 1993; disc also includes "Le Sacre du printemps", "Le baiser de la fée" (Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and "L'Oiseau de feu" (Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra)
*Lorin Maazel conducting the Vienna Philharmonic (released on RCA 57127 in 2000; disc also includes "Petrushka" and "Le Chant de Rossignol")