Poulenc and His 3 Sonatas

Of equal importance in evoking the specifically Russian fairy-tale atmosphere is the incorporation of actual folk tunes and other existing themes in such a way that they seem part of an endless fabric, part old and part new. Stravinsky is often criticized for his "weakness" in failing to create strong original melodies, but he certainly knew a good tune when he found one, and in all three of his pathbreaking early ballets for Diaghiev, with their specifically Russian settings, he made use of folk tunes from the collection of his beloved teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov. (The score of the The Firebird bears a dedication to the memory of Rimsky-Korsakov, who died in 1908, shortly before Stravinsky took on the commission.)

The theme of the princesses' khorovod is that of the song "In the garden," which Rimsky-Korsakov had used in his own Sinfonietta on Russian Themes. That of the Infernal Dance had been used by Rimsky to represent Kashchei in his opera Mlada. (Stravinsky's father, the renowned basso Fyodor Stravinsky, sang in the premiere