This Firebird xylophone excerpt is a small part of a very particular scene: rehearsal figures 47–48 in Igor Stravinsky’s original 1910 ballet, L’Oiseau de feu. It is not the opening of the ballet, and it is not the later Infernal Dance.
Lise Duarte Nuñez’s new eleven-second video offers a focused starting point. The useful preparation question is how to keep the short figures and their rests inside a continuing musical context, rather than treating each new attack as a fresh beginning.
Watch Lise’s Firebird xylophone excerpt
If the player is blocked by your privacy choices, you can open the original Short on YouTube.
Her published title and description identify the original ballet and rehearsal figures 47–48. The description also distinguishes the orchestration in the full score from what is claimed for the clip: this article does not assume that an orchestral backing track is present.
Listen to the short gestures, then notice the spaces between them. The aim is not to fill those spaces with sound. It is to remain musically oriented while observing the rests exactly.
Where are rehearsals 47–48 in The Firebird?
In the Jurgenson full score, plate 34920, held by the Sibley Music Library at the University of Rochester, the relevant landmarks are:
- 29: the section headed Supplications de l’Oiseau de feu begins, on printed page 44.
- 47: the xylophone passage is near the end of those Supplications, on pages 59–60.
- 48: Apparition des treize princesses enchantées begins on page 60.
These are rehearsal figures, not bar numbers. The reference is this particular full score; check the numbering and layout in the edition you are using.
That location changes the listening task. You are following a scene towards its next boundary, not preparing the ballet’s opening atmosphere from the first page.
What does the dramatic context establish?
The Berliner Philharmoniker’s programme note places the Firebird’s capture and release before the episode of the enchanted princesses. In the story, Ivan receives a protective feather after freeing the bird.
That broad sequence helps locate the scene. It does not establish that figure 47 depicts the exact moment of the feather’s gift, a flight or a specific choreographic gesture. An image of something fleeting or magical can be an interpretative choice, but should not be presented as a documented stage direction for these notes.
Hear the xylophone as part of a texture
Around 47, the score places the xylophone’s brief figures in relation to flutes II and III. The bassoons maintain regular movement, while the strings contribute, among other writing, col legno sounds.
This is an observation about the orchestral score, not a claim that every one of those instruments can be heard in Lise’s short solo clip. To explore the relationship, follow the full score with a recording of the complete ballet.
Try directing your attention to the bassoon movement, then to the xylophone and flute figures. The question is whether you can understand the brief gestures against a continuing reference. It is not an instruction to make the xylophone uniformly louder than the surrounding instruments.
Slow pulse does not mean stretched rests
The Meno mosso indication, with quarter note = 54, is already present at figure 45 in the consulted score. It is not a new tempo instruction introduced at 47. The passage’s quiet dynamic and short figures should be read alongside that larger pulse.
A slow reference can make the gaps between gestures feel unusually exposed. Avoid resolving that feeling by lengthening a rest, rushing the next figure or adding a heavy accent just to mark where you are.
Prepare a span that includes a figure, its written rest and the next beginning. Follow the durations without playing first. Then use your established technique to play the same span, retaining the written rhythm and articulation. If the next beginning becomes uncertain, identify where you lost the reference rather than repeating only the sounding notes.
This is a preparation suggestion, not a prescribed sticking, mallet choice or statement about Lise’s timing.
Keep the section boundary in view
Locate 48 before working repeatedly on 47. Knowing what follows gives the short passage a destination, even when your practice excerpt ends at that boundary.
For the more general process of identifying a cue and preparing an entry, use the orchestral percussion entrance guide. Here, keep the specific distinction clear: the end of the Supplications leads to the Appearance of the Princesses, not to the Infernal Dance.
If you record a take, choose one question: do the beginnings remain in the intended place after the rests? Keep the setup consistent, and do not infer precise ensemble timing or balance from an uncertain recording setup alone. The percussion practice recording guide explains those limits.
Which version and part should I use?
This page concerns the original 1910 ballet, not a general guide to every concert suite or every xylophone excerpt from The Firebird. Do not assume that a suite recording, another edition or a differently labelled extract has the same sequence, numbering and orchestration.
The Sibley source identifies the Jurgenson full score and publisher plate. It does not establish which edition was used to prepare Lise’s performance. Work from the correct authorised part for your project, and use the full score to understand its surroundings. No score image, unofficial transcription or separate excerpt PDF is reproduced here.
For individual guidance, explore focused online percussion lessons. Bookings and payments are not open yet. A useful starting question is: “Can I stay inside this scene’s pulse when the xylophone is silent?”
Sources and scope
- Lise Duarte Nuñez’s Firebird Short, published 20 October 2026: title and expanded description identify the 1910 ballet, rehearsal figures 47–48 and the eleven-second clip.
- Sibley Music Library: Jurgenson full score, plate 34920: pages 44 and 58–60 for section headings, rehearsal figures and orchestral context.
- Kerstin Schüssler-Bach, Berliner Philharmoniker: The Firebird, Ballet Music: broader dramatic context, not an exact choreographic identification at figure 47.
Sources consulted 20 October 2026. The listening and preparation suggestions are original editorial material. No complete audiovisual analysis, prescribed sticking or identification of the video’s score edition is claimed.