Chapter 20:
The Twentieth
Century: Early
Modernism
Stravinsky: The
Primacy of Rhythm
Key Terms
Ballet
Fauve
Ostinato
Stravinsky:
The Primacy of Rhythm
Stravinsky began as Russian nationalist
• Influenced by his mentor, kuchka member
Rimsky-Korsakov
Three famous early ballets for Paris
• Steady progress from nationalism to a
powerful, hard-edged avant-garde style
• More & more abstract use of folk material
• The Firebird – beautifully colored folk music
• Petrushka – hard, satirical portrait of carnival
barker & his puppets with folk & pop tunes
• Rite of Spring – pagan rites brutally depicted
Igor Stravinsky
(1882-1971)
Influence of mentor Rimsky-Korsakov
First success with Ballets Russes in Paris
• The Firebird, Petrushka, & Rite of Spring
• Wrote many ballets – Pulcinella, Agon, etc.
Leading Neoclassical composer after 1920
• Symphony of Psalms, Rake’s Progress, etc.
Moved to Los Angeles in the 1930s
• Assisted by Robert Craft from 1950s to death
Remarkable group of late 12-tone works!
• Requiem Canticles, Threni, etc.
Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring
Used a deliberately barbaric style
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To depict primitive rites & ritual sacrifice
Crude use of folk-tune fragments
“Unemotional,” grindingly dissonant music
Draws remarkable colors from huge orchestra
Rhythm is the lifeblood of this work
• Visceral, unpredictable rhythms
First performance caused a riot
• Provocative, non-balletic choreography
• Violent, brutal, dissonant sounds
The Rite of Spring
Introduction
“Fanfare” for bassoon in very high range
• Extreme registers exploited for new tone colors
Many short melodic fragments
• Fanfares for oboe, piccolo & bass clarinet
• Frequently repeated, but never the same twice
• Piled on top of each other to create dissonant
climax of activity
Bassoon “fanfare” returns at the end
The Rite of Spring
Dance of the Adolescents (1)
Dancers entered with accented chords
• 32 repetitions of dissonant chord with heavy,
irregular accents played by 8 French horns
• 12341234512123456123123412345…
• Chords alternate with 4-note ostinato
The Rite of Spring
Dance of the Adolescents (2)
Folk song motives are laid over rhythm
• Motives repeat, & new ones pile on top of old
• Different length & rhythm for each repetition –
an irregular ostinato
• Creates climax by piling more & more motives,
ostinatos, & rhythms on top of each other
The Rite of Spring
The Game of Abduction
Brutal, violent rhythms here
• Asymmetric, with frequently changing meter
• LOUD – heavy brass, sliding horn calls, &
frantic pounding on the timpani
• Alternation between scurrying figures & heavy
booming ones
The Rite of Spring
Round Dances of Spring (1)
Desolate, empty feeling in introduction
• Piccolo clarinet & alto flute two octaves apart
Slow, dragging dance follows
• Hypnotic meter created by heavy downbeat &
added or skipped beats
• Uses folk tune fragment from earlier section
The Rite of Spring
Round Dances of Spring (2)
Relentless buildup to overpowering climax
• Trombone glissandos with gong, cymbals, &
bass drum
• Sudden, fast coda with violent interjections
• Brief return of p bassoon fanfare
Conclusions
New language based on rhythm
• Exhilarating, irregular rhythms & meter
• Complex textures pile up rhythms & motives
Strong reaction against Romanticism
• Tough, precise, barbaric music with no
Romantic sentiment or emotionalism
• Melody reduced to motives & fragments
• Frequent dissonance as motives pile up
• Tonality anchored by ostinato & pedal tones,
not by diatonic scales
Extraordinary ear for new colors