Page 259 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

In truth, the violent reaction to The Rite of Spring was in part a response to the Modernist choreography, which sought to obliterate any trace of clas- sical ballet: The dance was just as “primitive” as Stravinsky’s Modernist score. But what aspects of Stravinsky’s music shocked so many in the audience that night?
percussive orchestra
First, there is a new percussive—one might say “heavy metal”—approach to the orchestra. The percussion section is enlarged to include four timpani, a triangle, a tambourine, a guiro, cymbals, antique cymbals, a bass drum, and a tam-tam. Even the string family, the traditional provider of warmth and richness in the symphony orchestra, is required to play percussively, attack- ing the strings with repeated down-bows at seemingly random moments of accent. Instead of warm, lush sounds, we hear bright, brittle, almost barbaric ones pounded out by scraping strings, percussion, heavy woodwinds, and brasses.
irregular accents
Stravinsky intensifies the effect of his harsh, metallic sounds by placing them where they are not expected, on unaccented beats, thereby creating explosive syncopation, something he had learned to appreciate by listening to American jazz. Notice, in Example 15.5, the famous beginning of “Augurs of Spring,” how the strings accent (>) the second, fourth, and then first pulses of subsequent four-pulse measures. In this way, Stravinsky destroys ordinary 1-2-3-4 meter and forces us to hear, in succession, groups of 4, 5, 2, 6, 3, 4, and 5 pulses—a conductor’s nightmare, and a dancer’s as well!
Example 15.5 > irregular accents
WATCH . . . an online video of what the premiere of The Rite of Spring must have been like.
& b b b 24
j
bœœ œœ œœ œœ bœœ œœ œœ œœ bœœ œœ œœ œœ bœœ œœ œœ œœ bœœ œœ œœ œœ bœœœœ œœ œœ bœœ œœ œœ œœ œœ fœœœœ œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ œœœœœj
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 15.5 online.
>>>
>>
>>>>>
?b 2bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ œ b b 4b œ œ œ œ b œ œ œ œ b œ œ œ œ b œ œ œ œ b œ œ œ œ b œ œ œ œ b œ œ œ œ œ bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ bœœœœ œ
1234 1234 5121 2345 6123 1234 12345
polymeter
The rhythm of The Rite of Spring is complex because Stravinsky often super-
imposes two or more different meters simultaneously. Notice in Ex♭ample
15.6 that the oboe plays in 6 time, the E♭ clarinet plays in 7, while the B clari- 588
net is in 8. This is an example of polymeter—two or more meters sounding simultaneously.
igor stravinsky (1882–1971) 237 Copyright 201 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
56797_ch15_ptg01.indd 237 29/08/14 3:37 PM