Klavier Festival Ruhr
zur deutschen Version English language selected Petruschka
Introduction
Using the interactive score

Contents and functions

The Ruhr Piano Festival’s “Multimedia Guide to Petrushka” has a number of functions that allow you to explore interactively selected sections of Stravinsky’s ballet:

  • All the excerpts are taken from the orchestral score. The music can be started in any bar by pressing the “Play” button or double-clicking on the score. You can also get a full view of oversize pages by using the 
  • zoom and full screen functions on your browser (see below).

  • A brief introduction lets you know where you are in the score and why we’ve chosen this particular passage. We recommend starting at this introduction to begin your journey of discovery through the interactive score.
  • The multimedia commentary (“Mark-ups”) in the score (text, pictures, recordings, and videos) guides you through the section you’ve selected. It explains Stravinsky’s method of composing, points out interesting aspects of the music, illuminates the relation between music and stage action, and presents the sources of the folk music quotations in Petruschka.
  • Some sections give you an opportunity to experience the sound of the orchestra from the inside and to hear things as you’ll never hear them at a concert or on a CD. The “Select Instrument” function allows you to choose particular instruments or instrument groups that will stand out when you play the recorded passage. By clicking the “Information” button in “Select Instrument”, you can call up a text explaining the distinctive features of the instrument you’ve chosen.
  • In some sections you can make the formal structure of the orchestral writing visible by pressing the “Structure” button. The colored highlighting of the various layers and formal divisions will simplify your tour of Stravinsky’s complex score.
  • Under “Reactions”, you can find out about the impact that Stravinsky’s music had on his contemporaries and what other composers, artists, and critics thought and said about Petrushka. Further, the composer and Stravinsky conductor Pierre Boulez explains the peculiarities of a chosen section in films specially shot for our website.
  • Under “A Closer Look”, an important aspect of the section you’ve chosen is explored more deeply in a short essay.
  • In order to view the entire score page, it is possible to change the 
  • zoom level of your internet browser. In many browsers the zoom function is found under the view menu (common shortcut key is Ctrl + or Ctrl –). Remember to change back the zoom level to 100% for normal viewing.

  • In addition to changing the 
  • zoom level you can maximize the viewing area of your browser by hiding the various tool bars. In many browsers the full screen function is found under the view menu (common shortcut key to hide and show the tool bars is F11).

  • To help you find your way through the score, a “Follower” marks the bar currently being played. You can switch this function off with a click.

Not every section of the work offers all of these functions. Further information on how to use the various buttons can be found by clicking help in the interactive score. For optimum results, we recommend using the printed score from Boosey & Hawkes at the same time.

Target group

The “Multimedia Guide” is designed for all musically-minded people who want to explore Stravinsky’s ballet interactively. The range of functions and materials it contains makes it easy to use either individually or in the classroom at secondary/high school or college level.

Credits

The Ruhr Piano Festival’s “Multimedia Guide to Petrushka” was conceived by Tobias Bleek, Victor Craven and Richard McNicol.

Contents and texts: Tobias Bleek (Ruhr Piano Festival)

Program development and design: Victor Craven (10to1 Productions Ltd)

Permission to use sections from the score of Stravinsky’s Petrushka was kindly granted by the publishers Boosey & Hawkes. We are grateful to the Bochum Symphony Orchestra and its General Music Director Steven Sloane for the recording of Stravinsky’s music.

Sound recordings and processing: Ulrich Lorscheider

English translation: J. Bradford Robinson

We also extend our thanks to the following for their support:

Pierre Boulez (explanations of Petrushka ), Irina Grigorieva and Katia Bergen (Russian folk song recordings), Pierre Charial (recording of “La jambe en bois”), Margarita Lebedkina (recording of examples at the piano), and Michael Ciniselli and his team (film shots and editing).

Sources and literature

We wish to thank the Paul Sacher Foundation for kindly granting permission to use selected sources from Stravinsky’s posthumous papers. All bibliographic references appear directly in the text.