The work consists of three parts performed without interruption. The first part (Psalm 38) is intense and agitated. The second part (Psalm 39) describes a conversion to faith. The finale (Psalm 150) is a song of praise to God. At the end, a slow hymn is played, which, according to Stravinsky, should sound as if it were “given from heaven.”
One of the finest works of the neoclassical period is the Psalm Symphony for choir and orchestra, composed in 1930. The work was commissioned by conductor Sergei Koussevitzky for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and premiered in Brussels in December 1930 under the baton of Ernest Ansermet. The work was performed for the first time in Boston a few days later.
