IGOR STRAVINSKY's THE RITE OF SPRING
1. NPR's Milestones of the Millennium
Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring' with Thomas Kelly
Almost no musical work has had such a powerful influence or evoked as much controversy as Igor Stravinsky's ballet score “The Rite
of Spring”. The work's premiere on May 29, 1913, at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, was scandalous. In addition to the
outrageous costumes, unusual choreography and bizarre story of pagan sacrifice, Stravinsky's musical innovations tested the patience
of the audience to the fullest. In this edition of Milestones of the Millennium, we explore the history surrounding “The Rite of
Spring,” its infamous premiere and its tremendous impact on music ever since.
Harvard University professor Thomas Kelly suggests that one of the reasons that the Paris premiere of "The Rite of Spring" created
such a furor was that it shattered everyone's expectations. The evening's program began innocently with a performance of “Les
Sylphides.” However, as the follow-up piece, “The Rite of Spring” turned out to be anything but spring-like. One of the dancers
recalled that Vaslav Nijinsky's shocking choreography was physically unnatural to perform. "With every leap we landed heavily
enough to jar every organ in us." The music itself was angular, dissonant and totally unpredictable. In the introduction, Stravinksy
called for a bassoon to play higher in its range than anyone else had ever done. In fact, the instrument was virtually unrecognizable as
a bassoon. When the curtain rose and the dancing began, there appeared a musical theme without a melody, only a loud, pulsating,
dissonant chord with jarring, irregular accents. The audience responded to the ballet with such a din of hisses and catcalls that the
performers could barely hear each other.
Backstage at the premiere, Nijinsky shouted at the dancers while Diaghilev tried to suppress a possible riot by flashing the house
lights. Stravinsky himself fumed at the audience's response to his music. If nothing else, the ballet's premiere managed to instill in the
audience the true spirit of the music. As Thomas Kelly states, "The pagans on-stage made pagans of the audience." Despite its
inauspicious debut, Stravinsky's score for “The Rite of Spring” today stands as a magnificent musical masterpiece of the twentieth
century.
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/991110.motm.riteofspring.html
2. Keeping Score: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring
Michael Tilson Thomas' narration on the background and structure of Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring.
You never know when or where revolutions will start. They can be social or political or artistic. Often, these artistic revolutions—
revolutions in taste—seem to predict other changes in society.
That's exactly the case with The Rite of Spring. Igor Stravinsky wrote The Rite of Spring in 1913. It redefined 20th-century music,
much as Beethoven's Eroica had transformed music a century before.
Stravinsky’s solution was to write for the instruments of the modern orchestra in bizarre ways. He pushed them to the extreme
heights and depths of their ranges. He put them in uncomfortable positions, which resulted in that strained, weird quality he was
looking for. He mimicked the authentic village sound by adding grace notes to the lines, which suggested the vocal breaks of
untutored singers.
The Rite of Spring may not be as shocking today as it was at that scandalous premiere in 1913, but more than 90 years later, it still has
that edgy, intense, almost out-of-control feeling that makes it as exhilarating—and liberating—as music can be.
http://www.pbs.org/keepingscore/video-stravinsky.html
3. Getting Hooked on the' Rite' Sound by Marin Alsop on The Rite of Spring
For every conductor, there is that seminal composition, that piece of music that makes one say, "I must conduct that piece someday."
For me, that piece is The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. First and foremost, it's the rhythm. As Stravinsky said, "There is no life
without pulse,"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9042552
4. Gustavo Dudamel On The Magic Of Stravinsky's 'Crazy Music'
But that's part of the Rite's magic, the conductor says. "It's a hundred years later," he says, "and it's still so modern.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/09/28/161964987/gustavo-dudamel-on-the-magic-of-stravinskys-crazy-music
5. Riot at the Rite
BBC Movie about Stravinsky's masterpiece 'The Rite of Spring' (Le Sacre du printemps) (1913).
In the spring of 1913, Parisian businessman Gabriel Astruc opens a new theater on the Champs Elysées. The first performance is the
premiere of Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring', danced by the Ballet Russes. The rehearsal process is extremely fraught: the
orchestra dislikes Stravinsky's harsh, atonal music; the dancers dislike the 'ugly' choreography of Vaslav Nijinsky. Public expectation
is extremely high after Nijinsky's success in 'L'apres-midi d'un faune'. Finally, 'The Rite of Spring' premieres to a gossip-loving,
febrile, fashion-conscious Parisian audience sharply divided as to its merits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcZ7lfdhVQw
6. Joffrey Ballet 1987 Re-enactment of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring
The Joffrey Ballet's 1987 production Nijinsky and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring used the original sets, costumes, and
choreography from the 1913 production. (See photo at top of page 1.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD4iVQayoRE
7. Parisians Hiss New Ballet, NY Times article from June 8, 1913 on the Premiere of the Rite of Spring.
NY TIMES ARTICLE FROM JUNE 8, 1913:
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/433359-rite-of-spring-1913.html#document/p1
LISTENING to OTHER STRAVINSKY COMPOSITIONS:
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNvC5vAYX-E
1946, Igor Stravinsky composed Ebony Concerto for the Woody Herman Orchestra. Here, Stravinsky
conducts the WH Orchestra.
9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1taQl-wOmo
1944 Stravinsky arranges the National Anthem.
Here, Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the London Symphony Orchestra.
10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcXTFRXenwI
1940 Stravinsky's Tango for Piano
BIOGRAPHICAL:
11.http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2708&ttype=BIOGRAP
HY&ttitle=Biography
Boosey and Hawkes Composer page on Stravinsky includes a biography, timeline, discography, works,
performances, and more.
12. http://www.shepherd.edu/englweb/362/euan.htm
The Rite of Spring: Understanding and Connecting Stravinsky's Music to the Modernist Period
by Evan Edmonds
13. http://www.musicallyspeaking.com/id74.html
Stravinsky the Modernist
14. file://localhost/. http/::voices.yahoo.com:biography-igor-stravinsky-father-modern-classical-7626464.html
15. http://www.npr.org/artists/15162684/igor-stravinsky
The focus is Stravinsky on this NPR link, which will connect you to many more links from concerts to
interviews by Alsop and Dudamel to cartoons on the Rite.
16. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88490677
By NPR commentator Miles Hoffman
"It liberated many composers," Hoffman says, "and there were many imitators. I don't think you can listen to
modern movie music without sooner or later hearing the influence of Stravinsky and the Rite".
17.http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=9042552&m=9104677
Interview with Robert Craft describing his Inspiration for the Rite of Spring:
"I am the vessel through which Le Sacre passed".