Circus Polka for a Young Elephant

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was still a world-famous composer when he lent Eisler support in the latter’s fight against HUAC. In 1942, the year in which he composed Circus Polka for a Young Elephant, the heady days of the Ballets Russes, Rite of Spring, and Petrushka must have seemed a lifetime away. This glib three-and-a-half-minute solo keyboard work is lean and spiky, marked by good humor. The melody, not exactly hummable on first hearing, moves freely between treble and bass. Stravinsky even throws in what sound like quirky echoes, and a high treble theme envisions our Young Elephant balanced precariously on the high wire. By the clangorous coda, the pachyderm is completely untethered and storming through the tent.

(c) Jason Stell