Stravinsky - Rite of Spring

Igor Stravinsky

 Born in 17 June 1882 until 6 April 1971)

 Was a Russian-born composer, pianist,
and conductor.
 A pupil of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
 He is widely considered one of the most
important and influential composers of the
20th century.
 The Firebird (1910) and Petrushka
(1911)
 He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame and he was posthumously awarded
the Grammy Award for Lifetime
Achievement in 1987.
 He died due to heart failure.
Rite of Spring

“The Rite of Spring: Pictures from Pagan Russia in Two Parts” was
a ballet and orchestral concert work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky.
It was first premiered at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris on May
29, 1913 and it’s regarded as to be the most scandalous premieres in history.
It was noted for its brutality, its barbaric rhythms, and its dissonance, but
later became widely considered to be one of the most influential musical
works of the 20th century.
In his autobiography, Stravinsky was writing the last pages of The
Firebird in St Petersburg, where then he had a fleeting vision of a paganistic
sacrificial ritual.
It is originally written in a condense form in piano but sadly it was
completely lost. However, in the same year as Stravinsky published the
orchestral version, he first published a piano duet version. The duet was first
performed by Stravinsky and Claude Debussy for them to be prepared in the
upcoming premier.
The production of the piece was commissioned by the noted
impresario of the Ballets Russes, Serge Diaghilev, who earlier had
produced the young composer’s The Firebird (1910) and Petrushka (1911).
The production was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, and its sets and
costumes were designed by Nicholas Roerich.
One time, Pierre Monteux, the conductor of piece and ballet, walk
out the room when he first heard the piece first performed on the piano. But
Diaghilev was able to convinced Monteux and never liked performing the
piece.
The Rite of Spring was the most highly anticipated premier at that
time which all tickets were sold out due to because the Parisian audience
was into Russian music at that time. Famous figures were also able to watch
the premier like Pablo Picasso, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Gertrude
Stein (an American author), and Camille Saints-Saen (though Stravinsky
denied).
And also, the premiere involved one of the most famous classical
music riots in history. To this day, experts debate over what exactly sparked
the incident — was it music or dance? Most of what is known is based on
eyewitness accounts or newspaper reports.
The ruckus first began at solo opening of the concert — eerily high-
pitched bassoon solo that ridicule from many in the audience, but went
haywire when the audience saw the opening scene of the ballet. The
audience quickly divided into factions which one sided thought it was
brilliant while the other thinks it’s outrageous. And because of the loud
argument of the audience, Nijinsky got a chair backstage and starts shouting
the counts of the steps because the dancers can’t hear the orchestra. Lastly
then the audience started throwing things at the dancer and orchestra. And a
few fist-fights broke out though performance continued to the end, despite
the rowdiness of the audience.
After a mixed critical reception for its original run and a short
London tour, the ballet was not performed again until the 1920s. In the mid-
20th century, Stravinsky revised the orchestration for concert performance,
and that version of the score remains the version that is most commonly
performed.
Instrumentation
Stravinsky used one of the largest Brass

orchestras ever assembled for his
 8 horns (seventh and eighth
score:
doubling tenor Wagner tubas)
Woodwinds  1 trumpet in D
 4 trumpets in C (fourth
 1 piccolo
doubling bass trumpet in E♭)
 3 flutes (third doubling second
piccolo)  2 trombones
 1 alto flute  1 bass trombone
 4 oboes (fourth doubling  2 bass tubas
second English horn)
 1 English horn
 3 clarinets in B♭ and A (third Strings
doubling second bass clarinet)  Violin I, II
 1 clarinet in E♭ and D  Viola
 1 bass clarinet  Cello
 4 bassoons (fourth doubling  Double basses
second contrabassoon)
 1 contrabassoon
Percussion
 5 timpani (requiring two players)

 bass drum
 tam-tam
 triangle
 tambourine
 cymbals
 antique cymbals in A♭ and B♭
 güiro
Part I - Adoration of the Earth
 Introduction - Before the curtain rises, an orchestral introduction

resembles, according to Stravinsky, "a swarm of spring pipes
 Augurs of Spring - The celebration of spring begins in the hills.

An old woman enters and begins to foretell the future.
 Ritual of Abduction - Young girls arrive from the river, in single

file. They begin the "Dance of the Abduction".
 Spring Rounds - The young girls dance the Khorovod.
 Ritual of the Rival Tribes - The people divides into two groups in
opposition to each other, and begins the "Ritual of the Rival
Tribes".
 Procession of the Sage: The Sage - A holy procession leads to the

entry of the wise elders, headed by the Sage who brings the games
to a pause and blesses the earth.
 Dance of the Earth - The people break into a passionate dance,

sanctifying and becoming one with the earth.
Part II - The Sacrifice
 Introduction
 Mystic Circles of the Young Girls - The young girls engage in

mysterious games, walking in circles.
 Glorification of the Chosen One - One of the young girls is selected
by fate, being twice caught in the perpetual circle, and is honored as
the "Chosen One" with a martial dance.
 Evocation of the Ancestors - In a brief dance, the young girls invokes

the ancestors.
 Ritual Action of the Ancestors - The Chosen One is entrusted to the

care of the old wise men.
 Sacrificial Dance - The Chosen One dances to death in the presence

of the old men, in the great "Sacrificial Dance".
 Each episode depicts various pagan rituals celebrating the advent of

spring.
 The story is about pagan Russia which every spring must sacrifice a
virgin to please the Gods, a young girl is chosen as a sacrificial victim
and force to dance herself to death.
Music
The duration of the work is about 35 minutes. Most jarring and

obvious element of the Rite of Spring’s complete originality is its rhythmic
structure.
 The first dance, "Augurs of Spring", is characterized by a repetitive
stamping chord in the horns and strings, based on E♭ superimposed
on a triad of E, G♯ and B. The rhythm of the stamping is disturbed by
Stravinsky's constant shifting of the accent, on and off the beat.
Bitonality (the use of two different keys simultaneously) was also
suggested at the beginning of the Augurs of Spring.
An example of the pattern as follows:
one two three four five six seven eight

 The opening melody is played by a solo bassoon in a very high
register, which renders the instrument almost unidentifiable, gradually
other woodwind instruments are sounded and are eventually joined by
strings.
 Syncopation is at the heart of this piece
 Time signature changes. Stravinsky almost constantly changes his time

signatures. This can be seen right from the start, where 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4
alternate.
 Unusual time signatures such as 5/8, 2/8 and 4/8 are used near the end of
the Ritual of Abduction.
 Polyrhythm (two or more different rhythms simultaneously) can be found at

the climax of the introduction, where simultaneous triplets, septuplets,
straight quavers, etc. All sound together to illustrate the chaos of the gradual
awakening of nature at the beginning of spring.
Vaslav Nijinsky
 Born on 2 March 1889 until 8 April 1950
 Was a ballet dancer and choreographer
cited as the greatest male dancer of the
early 20th century.
 In 1912 Nijinsky began choreographing
original ballets, including Afternoon of a
Faun (1912) to music by Claude Debussy,
Jeux (1913), and Till Eulenspiegel (1916)
Nijinsky created choreography for the Rite

of Spring, which exceeded the limits of traditional
ballet and propriety. The dancers were arranged in
massed groupings and executed harsh, primitive
movements, the legs turned in, the arms hanging heavily, and the heads lolling to
one side. The dance was a link between the ballet and modern dance
Due to the riot caused of the premier, the dance was replaced by the version
choreographed by Léonide Massine, which saw only eight performances. In the
1980s, Nijinsky's original choreography, long believed lost, was reconstructed by
the Joffrey Ballet in Los Angeles.

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Igor Stravinsky

 Born in 17 June 1882 until 6 April 1971)

Stravinsky used one of the largest Brass

 5 timpani (requiring two players)

 Introduction - Before the curtain rises, an orchestral introduction

 Augurs of Spring - The celebration of spring begins in the hills.

 Ritual of Abduction - Young girls arrive from the river, in single

 Spring Rounds - The young girls dance the Khorovod.

 Procession of the Sage: The Sage - A holy procession leads to the

 Dance of the Earth - The people break into a passionate dance,

Part II - The Sacrifice

 Mystic Circles of the Young Girls - The young girls engage in

 Evocation of the Ancestors - In a brief dance, the young girls invokes

 Ritual Action of the Ancestors - The Chosen One is entrusted to the

 Sacrificial Dance - The Chosen One dances to death in the presence

 Each episode depicts various pagan rituals celebrating the advent of

The duration of the work is about 35 minutes. Most jarring and

An example of the pattern as follows:

one two three four five six seven eight

 Syncopation is at the heart of this piece

 Time signature changes. Stravinsky almost constantly changes his time

 Polyrhythm (two or more different rhythms simultaneously) can be found at

Nijinsky created choreography for the Rite

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