La Directive du Motif for Stravinsky’s “Histoire” for Winds and Percussion Octet

 

In most of my compositional work, there is a programmatic element that fuels ideas throughout the compositional process. During the compositional process of this piece I struggled to come up with anything remotely programmatic to help the process develop (Ironically, Stravinsky did not have this problem while composing for this ensemble). After much thought, I decided to abandon the idea of a programmatic element, and through most of the compositional process, the title was simply Opus for Mixed Chamber Ensemble. 

With this major element lacking, I decided to start with a relatively simple melodic motive. This motive was a descending line consisting of b-flat, a, f, e-flat, and g-flat (ascending). I then composed a chord progression based on this motive which makes up the opening passacaglia theme in the beginning of the piece. After these two elements were explored, the motive began to take a life of its own.

Just from this motive and the progression derived from it, the piece went in several wild directions. One can hear different style influences from pointillism, to a quasi Middle Eastern melody, to an off-kilter blues melody. These sections were often interrupted by cadenzas and extended technical passages. 

All of these different passages derived themselves from this one five-note motive.  All the while I felt this motive dragging me through these different ideas as if it had a mind of its own. Thus, the programmatic element was born! The motive seemed to have a directive on how the piece was going to be composed that seemed almost out of my control. It only seemed appropriate to title the piece The Motive’s Directive. The title was translated into French as a tribute to Stravinsky and his brilliant use of this ensemble’s instrumentation in his L’histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale).

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Instrumentation: Clarinet, Bassoon, Trumpet, Trombone, Violin, Double Bass, and Percussion