In viaggio con Stravinsky, gli ultimi anni di tournée e le "Choral-Variationen" sul canto natalizio Vom Himme hoch..." (1955-56)

Abstract

The text takes up in organic form the speeches held on June 3, 2021 as part of the conference "Stravinsky in/and Italy. Day dedicated to the memory of Igor Stravinsky in the fiftieth anniversary of his death (1971-2021)" and the subsequent round table. The first paragraphs have the character of a reconstruction of the life of Igor Stravinsky ‘as an old man’, dealing above all with the theme of the trips to Italy made by the Maestro together with his wife Vera de Bosset, the conductor Robert Craft. The second part of the text is about the "Choral-Variationen on the Christmas carol “Vom Himmel hoch...”, written in 1955-56 to be performed with the Canticum Sacrum in the St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. This work is an original and creative reinvention of the £Canonische Veränderungen" BVW 796 by J.S. Bach, wich has a deep relationship with the architectural structures and the symbols of the Basilica, and also – but more secretly – with the magic square SATOR - AREPO - TENET - OPERA – ROTAS and the music of Anton Webern.