Iris, hence away, from Semele Juno: Awake, Saturnia, from thy lethargy! Seize, destroy the cursed Semele! Scale proud Cithaeron's top: snatch her, tear her in thy fury, and down, down to the flood of Acheron let her fall, rolling down the depths of night, nevermore to behold the light!

If I th'imperial scepter sway,

I swear by hell (tremble, thou universe, this oath to hear!) not one of curst Agenor's race to spare!

Hence, hence, Iris, hence away, far from the realms of day o'er Scythian hills to the Maeotian lake, a speedy flight we'll take!

There Somnus I'll compel his downy bed to leave, and silent cell;

with noise and light I will his peace molest, nor shall he sink again to pleasing rest,

till to my vow'd revenge he grants supplies, and seals with sleep the wakeful dragon's eyes.

Igor Stravinsky Pulcinella, Ballet with song in one act

Igor Stravinsky was born at Oranienbaum, Russia, on June 17, 1882, and died in New York on

April 6, 1971. The ballet Pulcinella was begun in thefall of 1919, completed on April 20, 1920,

and first performed by the Ballets Russes at the Paris Opera on May 15, 1920, under the direction

of Ernest Ansermet. A suite, prepared about 1922, contained thefirst portions of the ballet per- formed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in their American premiere under Pierre Monteux on

December 22, 1922. The orchestrasfirst performance of the entire ballet (including the songs) was at Tanglewood, conducted by Lukas Foss, in 1954; the most recent performance was also at

Tanglewood, Michael Tdson Thomas conducting, in 1974. The score in its 1949 revision (per- formed here) callsfor two flutes (second doubling piccolo) , two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, one trumpet, one trombone, a quintet ofsolo strings (two violins, viola, cello, and bass), a medium-sized group of orchestral strings, and soprano, tenor, and bass singers.

After the end of World War I, Serge Diaghilev was eager to bring his prize com- poser, Igor Stravinsky, back into the fold of his Ballets Russes, where he had achieved such epochal pre-war successes as Firebird, Petrushha, and The Rite of Spring. Big ballet productions had not been practical during the war, and Stravinsky had worked during that time with a Swiss writer, C.F. Ramuz, in the creation of a small stage work, The Soldiers Tale, which had been produced with great success. Diaghilev was jealous and sought a project to attract Stravinsky's interest. The Ballets Russes had recently pro- duced a piece based on old works by Scarlatti dressed up in new orchestrations, and Diaghilev thought Stravinsky might enjoy a similar undertaking. The new idea was first proposed to Stravinsky in a letter ofJune 10, 1919, from Ernest Ansermet, who was then conducting the Ballets Russes. When Stravinsky first learned that Diaghilev wanted him to arrange the music of Pergolesi, the composer thought the impresario

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