Rite of Spring

March 4, 2013

Subsequent Performances

Rite of Spring

Premiere

• Ballet was dropped for most performances after 1913
• Premiered in the USA in 1922
• Famous to Americans through its use in Fantasia (albeit in a brutalized form)
• The popularity of Rite of Spring has grown over the past century

• Positive Previews
• Premiere caused a riot
• Unlike anything that had yet been performed
• Unnatural dancing
• Bizarre themes
• Dissonance
• Lack of rhythm and meter
• Extended range of instruments

Tempo

• He contradicts his highly dissonant sounds with his energetic rhythm
• He uses rapid changes of meter to add to the frenzy of his musical climaxes
• “The undesirable, made speedy, seems to be different” –Eli Siegel

Tempo

•Begins with steady pulse of eighth notes, then

accents it in a highly syncopated way

•He divides the 32 pulses into the highly irregular pattern of 9 2 6 3 4 5 and 3 counts

•The same chords that would sound ordered at a consistent tempo sound chaotic and dissonant

with his irregular meter

Stravinsky wants to make the audience uncomfortable by using syncopation, which is a sound being accented when you don’t expect it to be accented

Texture

•He creates a highly dissonant and jarring

texture

•The Introduction begins with a bassoon solo that is then layered with woodwind, brass and string fragments that build the music to a piercing climax

•Frequently uses aggressive changes in dynamics and texture to build the music to a highly agitated,

tension-filled conclusion

Texture

The introduction of Part Two begins with eerie half-lit textures suggesting a new dawn

•The eerie texture continues into the Mystical Circles of the Young Girls, until the savage interruption in the Glorification of the Chosen Victim with a massive timpani crescendo

•The piece comes to an end with harsh dissonance and irregular accents building to a dramatic conclusion

By: Igor Stravinsky

Dynamics

• Stravinsky's use of dynamics is dramatic and paradoxical

• The piece is rarely at a "mezzo" dynamic level;

it is either very soft or building to a fortissimo climax

• The aggressive dynamic changes add

to the tension and contrast of the piece

Form

• Ballet- “a theatrical art form using dancing, music, and scenery to convey a story, theme, or atmosphere”

Melody

• Derives from Russian folk-songs

• Includes quotes from different folk-songs

• Usually presented in short pieces

• Has limited ranges

• Uses Repetition

Harmony

Comes from an eclectic language

Uses musical elements such as: polytonality, dissonance, whole note scales, and octatonic (eight note) scales

Pulse

In some parts, a steady pulse is set up, but random entrances and accents are thrown in.

In other parts, pulse is completely thrown out the window.

Origins of the Ballet

Sources

Gutmann, Peter. Igor Stravinsky The Rite of Spring. 2001-2. 3 March 2013. <http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/rite.html>.

Kelly, Thomas. Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring". 1999. 3 March 2013. <http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/991110.motm.riteofspring.html>.

McCarthy, Jack. Leopold Stokowski, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and The Rite of Spring. 22 February 2013. 3 March 2013. <http://www.philorch.org/blog/stokowski-celebration/leopold-stokowski-philadelphia-orchestra-and-rite-spring>.

The Philadelphia Orchestra. The Rite of Spring Program. 2013. 3 March 2013. <http://www.philorch.org/sites/default/files/concert/pdfs/The%20Rite%20of%20Spring.pdf>.

Edmonds, Euan. “The Rite of Spring: understanding and connecting Stravinsky’s music to the modernist period.” Shepherd College, 2003. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.“The Rite of Spring.” Sydney Symphony. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.Green, Edward. “On the Rhythm of The Rite of Spring.” Manhattan School of Music, 2010. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.

Edmonds, Euan. “The Rite of Spring: understanding and connecting Stravinsky’s music to the modernist period.” Shepherd College, 2003. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.“The Rite of Spring.” Sydney Symphony. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.Green, Edward. “On the Rhythm of The Rite of Spring.” Manhattan School of Music, 2010. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.

Sources Continued

Forney, Kristine, and Joseph Machlis. The Enjoyment of Music Essential Listening Edition. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2008. Norton EBooks. W. W. Norton & Company. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.

Green, Edward. "On the Rhythm of Igor Stravinsky's Great 'The Rite of Spring'" On the Rhythm of Igor Stravinsky's Great 'The Rite of Spring' N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

"Monash Composers." Monash Composers. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. "Polytonality." Polytonality. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

Taruskin, Richard. "Russian Folk Melodies in "The Rite of Spring"" Journal of the American Musicological Society 33.3 (1980): 501-43. JSTOR. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.

Sherrane, Robert. "Igor Stravinsky." Music History 102. Drexel, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2013.

Oron, Aryeh. "Igor Stravinsky (Composer, Arranger) - Short Biography." Bach Cantatas. N.p., May 2009. Web. 04 Mar. 2013.

• Produced by Serge Diaghilev
• Composed by Igor Stravinsky
• Developed 1911-1913
• Based on Russian Paganism
• Meant to be bold and innovative

Igor Stravinsky

• Greatly influenced musical world through rhythm, melody, & harmonyComposed ballets, orchestral music, operas, choral music, chamber, and piano music.Known for early works such as, "Rite of Spring"

Igor Stravinsky

• Born in Oranienbaum, Russia, June 17, 1882
• Died in New York, April 6, 1971
• Russian, French, American Composer
• Studied Law in St. Petersburg
• Religious music - "Symphony of Psalms"

Rite of Spring

Igor Stravinsky

Group 1:

Sarah Hunt, Jay Seeler

Julian Yoder, Amber Wright