Igor Stravinsky, a young Russian composer, was initially recruited in 1909 to orchestrate music for the Ballets Russes, an international touring ballet company.
Compositional Technique
Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring features complicated rhythmic play, polytonality (music written in several keys at once), and innovative orchestration that pushes instruments into unusual ranges.
Notable Performances
The Parisian premiere of The Rite of Spring on May 29, 1913, was a scandalous event, recalled in many memoirs.
Composition History
The Rite of Spring was conceived by Stravinsky and designer Nikolai Roerich as a 'vision' of an ancient pagan ritual involving a virgin sacrifice to mark the arrival of spring.
Compositional Technique
The opening of The Rite of Spring features an uncomfortably high, lonely solo for the bassoonist, setting an unusual tone.
Compositional Technique
In the closing 'Sacrificial Dance' of The Rite of Spring, almost every bar has a different number of beats, brutally forcing the young girl onwards.
Composition History
The score for The Rite of Spring took Stravinsky two years to complete and presented significant difficulties for both the orchestra and the dancers.
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Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps
The Rite of Spring, K015 Pt. 2 "The Sacrifice": II. Mystic Circles of the Young Girls
Stravinsky: The Firebird (1910 version) (L'oiseau de feu)
