Agon (ballet)

Form#

Stravinsky laid out the ballet in twelve parts, with four large sections each consisting of three dances. A prelude and two interludes occur between the large sections, but this does not fundamentally affect the twelve-part design because their function is caesural and compensatory: *I. # Pas-de-quatre (4 male dancers) # Double pas-de-quatre (8 female dancers) # Triple pas-de-quatre (4 male + 8 female dancers) *Prelude *II. (First pas-de-trois: 1 male, 2 female dancers) #Sarabande-step (1 male dancer) #Gaillarde (2 female dancers) #Coda (1 male, 2 female dancers) *Interlude *III. (Second pas-de-trois: 2 male, 1 female dancers) #Bransle simple (2 male dancers) #Bransle gay (1 female dancer) #Bransle double (2 male, 1 female dancers) *Interlude *IV. #Pas-de-deux (1 male, 1 female dancer) #Four Duos (4 male, 4 female dancers) #Four Trios (4 male, 8 female dancers)

Instrumentation#

Agon is scored for a large orchestra consisting of 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones (2 tenor, 1 bass), harp, piano, mandolin, timpani, tom-tom, xylophone, castanets, and strings. At no point does the entire orchestra play a tutti. Each section is scored for a different combination of instruments.

Music#

This was not the first composition in which Stravinsky employed serial techniques, but it was the first in which he used a twelve-tone row, introduced in the second coda, at bar 185. Earlier in the work, Stravinsky had employed a seventeen-tone row, in bars 104–107, and evidence from the sketches suggests a close relationship between these two rows. The Bransle Double is based on a different twelve-tone series, the hexachords of which are treated independently. Those hexachords first appear separately in the Bransle Simple (for two male dancers) and Bransle Gay (for solo female dancer), and are then combined to form a twelve-tone row in the Bransle Double. These three dances together constitute the second pas-de-trois.

Original cast#

• Todd Bolender
• Barbara Milberg
• Barbara Walczak
• Roy Tobias
• Jonathan Watts
• Melissa Hayden
• Diana Adams
• Arthur Mitchell

Italy#

When Agon was performed in Italy in 1965, Stravinsky was particularly pleased with the performance of mandolinist Giuseppe Anedda. “Bravo Mandolino!” shouted Stravinsky at Anedda and caught up with him to congratulate him and shake his hand.

Further reading#

• Joseph, Charles M. 2002. Stravinsky and Balanchine: A Journey of Invention. New Haven: Yale University Press. .
• Macaulay, Alastair. November 25, 2007. “50 Years Ago, Modernism Was Given a Name: Agon”. The New York Times.

External links#

• Agon, Balanchine Trust
• “The Bransles of Stravinsky’s Agon : A Transition to Serial Composition”, by Bonnie S. Jacobi