Stravinsky's use of conventions involves the defeat of the expectations set up by those conventions. The reference to earlier conventions may or may not involve thematic allusions. Pulcinella is based upon borrowed materials while the Symphony in C is not. In the case of the symphony, however, the presentation of the first theme (in its I-II-V sequence) does recall the presentation of the first theme in Beethoven's First Symphony.

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: David C. Birchler