Symphonie de Psaumes

Ernest Ansermet had the privilege of conducting the world premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s (1882-1971) _Symphony of Psalms_ in Brussels’s Palais des Beaux Arts in December 1930. The composer, a devout Russian Orthodox Christian, would only write a few more religious works, including the _Mass for choir and wind instruments_ from 1948. Stravinsky’s views on the subject were perfectly clear: _‘Religious music without religion is almost always vulgar … one must be a believer to compose it, not only to believe in the symbolic sense, but in the person of the Lord, the person of the Devil and the Miracles of the Church.’_