Igor Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms & Mass; Babel

For all its traditional ties, Stravinsky’s music continues to have a shockingly modern effect on many listeners even today. In his music praise of God is formulated in tones entirely different from those expected by music lovers schooled in the romantic tradition. Stravinsky did not compose “emotional“ or “expressive“ religious music but sought objectivity, archaic prototypes, and traditions of timeless value, presenting these elements as if under microscopic enlargement. Stravinsky emphasised the autonomous laws of music, especially its chronological or sequential nature. In spite of this objectification, his music obviously has an emotional effect. Of course, the static quality of his music, its carefully planned structure on the larger scale and its smallest detail, and its dissonant, self-contained chords reflect not so much the yearning of the individual for God as fear and trembling in the presence of the grandeur and unfathomability of the Supreme Being.