Synopsis

Late in 1941, Russian composer Igor Stravinsky was living in Hollywood — at 1260 N. Wetherly Drive, to be precise.

Notoriously unflappable, and eminently practical when it came to commissions, Stravinsky apparently did not even bat an eye when he received a phone call from choreographer Georges Balanchine with an offer from Barnum’s Circus to write a short musical work for a ballet involving elephants. Again, to be precise, for Barnum’s star elephant ballerina, Modoc, who would be accompanied by 50 other elephants and dancers, all in tutus.

“For what?” Stravinsky said.

“For elephants,” Balanchine said.

“How many?” Stravinsky countered.

“A lot,” Balanchine replied.

“How old?” Stravinsky asked.

“Young,” Balanchine assured.

”Well, if they’re young, I accept,” Stravinsky concluded.

Stravinsky’s work, Circus Polka, had its debut at Madison Square Garden in New York by the Barnum Circus and was performed by what Stravinsky once called Barnum’s “respectable quadrupeds” some 400 times. Stravinsky then arranged his Circus Polka for symphony orchestra and conducted the premiere of that version (minus the elephants) with the Boston Symphony in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on today’s date in 1944.

Music Played in Today's Program

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Circus Polka; London Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, cond. RCA 68865