Igor Stravinsky - Apollon Musagète (1928) [with score]

00:00​ - I. Prologue: The Birth of Apollo 04:37​ - II. Apollo's Variation 07:44​ - III. Pas d'action: Apollo and the Muses 12:47​ - IV. Variation of Calliope 14:20​ - V. Variation of Polymnia 15:38​ - VI. Variation of Terpsichore 17:53​ - VII. Variation of Apollo 20:24​ - VIII. Pas de deux: Apollo and Terpischore 24:47​ - IX. Coda: Apollo and the Muses 28:23​ - X. Apotheosis: Apollo and the Muses The ballet follows Apollo, the Greek god of music, who is visited by three Muses—Terpsichore, the muse of dance and song; Polyhymnia, the muse of mime; and Calliope, the muse of poetry. Set against the backdrop of Classical antiquity, the plot hints at a contemporary situation and explores the reinvention of tradition, drawing inspiration from Baroque, Classical, and post‑Baroque styles. Stravinsky composed the work between July 1927 and January 1928 for a string orchestra of 34 instruments (8 first violins, 8 second violins, 6 violas, 4 first cellos, 4 second cellos, and 4 double basses). The commission from the Library of Congress, funded by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, required a small ensemble, six dancers, and a duration of no more than half an hour. Stravinsky reduced the number of muses from nine to three and crafted the piece with a homogeneous bowed‑string ensemble, using dynamic contrasts to replace timbral differences. The prologue opens with dotted rhythms reminiscent of a French overture, and the work is built around a basic rhythmic cell that evolves through increasingly complex subdivisions. Minor revisions were made in 1947, and further changes were considered in 1963.