Kevin's Watch

Well, I didn't want to put this in the Beethoven thread, but since springtime is the topic of the day there, I figured I'd start him his own thread. Igor Stravinsky's most famous composition is probably The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps). It's a ballet, originally choreographed by the then-famous Vaslav Nijinsky, and first performed in 1913. It's about a girl in a pagan Russian culture who is sacrificed by dancing herself to death.

The music was very odd for its time, and the dancing was apparently also. The performance sparked a riot of some sort at its premiere. Nijinsky had to shout the count to the dancers so that they could hear him above the noise of the angry audience, and keep time. (I've heard that Russian for 1-8 contains a lot more syllables than it does in English, making the situation even more difficult.) Reports that Stravinsky had to escape to safety by crawling through a bathroom window are probably not true.

Anyway, Stravinsky's pretty cool. Some good stuff. Aside from that, I like Dumbarton Oaks, Symphony of Psalms, and a few others.

The Rite of Spring had quite a debut, according to what I read. Within a couple of minutes there was close to a riot in the hall, with some prominent composers involved. Saint-Saens led the catcalls, and Ravel was the leader of the defenders of Stravinsky, with Debussy basically crying out, "Can't we all just get along".

LOL!!!!

The only opera I have ever seen was by Stravinsky -- The Rake's Progress...and, unfortunately, I did not care for it all.

In the classical thread, I mentioned that my favorite opera is Wozzeck, by Alban Berg. I'm not an opera fan per se, but this one affected me in a way that no other opera had before (or since). Won't bore you to death here; let's just say I consider Wozzeck to be among the very greatest musical works of the 20th century.

Stravinsky is a composer I haven't gotten around to, you could say. The Rake's Progress is unknown to my ears. I've heard the story of The Rite of Spring's debut, but I know the work itself only from excerpts and from its reputation: scholars point out that in its primal savagery, the music of the Rite seemed to presage the cataclysm of the Great War.

That's interesting, because Wozzeck was composed after the War by a man who had first hand experience in it as an army conscript. Wozzeck is not explicitly about the War, but its story of an unstable soldier in an uncaring world who spirals into paranoia and madness seems to sum up the composer's post-War feelings.

Sorry, Igor (or is that Mr. Stravinsky?), but my favorite piece of ballet music is Maurice Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe, which I waxed lyrical about in that other thread. I said it there and I'll say it here: if there's one piece of music on this earth that can depict the lush beauty and Earthpowerful essence of Andelain, it's Daphnis et Chloe. Springtime in Andelain? Oh yeah, baby. I think the Rite of Spring would more appropriately depict the Sunbane desecrating the Hills.

The first several minutes of Rite of Spring are absolutely amazing! They evoke the primeval culture/ceremony/setting incredibly well. But things tend to go on longer than most people like. Unknown musical languages are difficult, after all.

I just finished listening to The Firebird a little while ago. It's one of my favorite pieces - so dramatic.

Cool, Mary! I forgot about this thread.

Uh, well, Fist, if you or anyone else still gives a hoot, I finally got myself the Rite of Spring. The CD also included Petrushka.

I managed to listen to the Rite of Spring a couple of times. So far, I'm afraid I echo the sentiment that the composition seems to go on longer than it should, though I'm familiar with and love the fierce final section: it was used in Carl Sagan's Cosmos soundtrack, appropriately enough to accompany the imminent cataclysm of a star about to go supernova. This is a brutal, animalistic piece of music; you're right about it being able to evoke a primeval setting very well. It's music I find hard to come to grips with at the moment.

Petrushka, on the other hand, is a much more emotionally accessible work, and it was a welcome relief after the fury of the Rite of Spring--not that Petrushka is a wimpy piece by any means. I took an immediate liking to Petrushka, so I have a hunch I'll be listening to it more often than the Rite of Spring.

Rite of Spring: London Philharmonic, cond. Bernard Haitink
Petrushka (original 1911 version): London Symphony, cond. Bernard Haitink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqWZGUO_eoc

[Igor Stravinsky: Symphony Of Psalms]