Stravinky's Octet for wind instrument briefly

Stravinsky’s Octet for wind instrument 2nd movement

Igor Stravinsky composed his Octet for Wind instruments in1922-23. The piece was written for two trumpets, two trombones, flute, clarinet and two bassoons, which is a peculiar assortment of instruments, is not it. The reason why he composed this kind of music is due to the difference of the volume of these instruments that provide more evidence of the musical architecture.
This piece has all Stravinsky’s signature musical characteristic including atypical use of accents, shifting pulses, rhythmic complexity, extreme use of dynamics (fortissimo and pianissimo) and specific use of articulation marks.
Although Stravinsky found a new style-neoclassicism, he used a classical form for his Octet: sonata form, theme and variation with fugue and rondo at the end. This was the first time when Stravinsky used the theme and variation form in a composition. The form of the second movement is self-evident from the title Tema con Variazioni in D-minor. The theme is based on octatonic scale and it does not point to any tonal centre. As can be seen the form of the movements is slightly unusual A (ribbons of scales)-B(March)-A( ribbons of scales)-C(waltz)-D(tempo di gusto)-A(ribbons of scales)-E(fugue). According to Stravinsky, his appetite was whetted by his rediscovery of sonata form…