Page 262 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

the plot
The subtitle of The Rite of Spring sets the context: Pictures of Pagan Russia. In Part 1, “The Kiss of the Earth,” a primitive Slavic tribe celebrates pagan springtime rituals; while in Part 2, “The Sacrifice,” a virgin dances herself to death as an of- fering to the god of spring (see Listening Cue). Before the curtain rises on Part 1, however, the huge orchestra plays an Introduction in darkness. Inexorably the music unfolds from soft to loud, one line to many, and tranquil to cacophonous, suggesting all the creepy-crawly things of the earth coming to riotous life in early spring. As the curtain rises, primitive dancers pound onto the stage (Scene 1: “Augurs of Spring: Dance of the Adolescents”) energized by jarring accents (see Example 15.5) and ear-splitting dissonance (see Example 15.8). To soften the blows, Stravinsky occasionally incorporates folk music, whether quoting au- thentic Russian songs or (more commonly) creating his own melodies with a folk flavor. Despite the folkloric content, however, the bulk of the composition came from within. As Stravinsky declared, “I had only my ears to guide me. I heard and I wrote what I heard. I am the vessel through which The Rite of Spring passed.”
Listening Cue
Igor Stravinsky, Le Sacre du printemps (1913), Introduction and Scene 1 Download 2485 Genre: Ballet music
what to listen for: In the Introduction, a growing cacophony of writhing woodwinds, which seem to be crawling out of the earth. In Scene 1 (3:36), an elemental pounding of dissonant string chords (see Example 15.5) punctuated by blasts from French horns and trumpets—“primitive Modernism” at its best.
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reAD . . . a detailed Listening Guide of this selection online.
LiSTeN TO . . . this selection streaming online.
WATCH . . . an Active Listening Guide of this selection online.
WATCH . . . the beginning of a modern re-creation of the original choreography online. DO . . . Listening Exercise 15.2, Stravinsky, Le Sacre du printemps, online.
Following the scandalous success that attended the premiere of The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky extracted the music from the ballet itself and presented it as a multi-movement work for orchestra alone. The music itself was now recognized as an important, if controversial, statement of the musical avant-garde. Later, in 1940, the score of The Rite of Spring furnished the music for an important seg- ment of Walt Disney’s early full-length animated film Fantasia. Disney made Modernism mainstream.
chapter fifteen european impressionism and modernism
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