IDAGIO | Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

Featuring

Andrew Litton
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Igor Stravinsky

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Composition History

The idea for Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka originated from a vision of a puppet exasperating an orchestra, which he initially conceived as a concert piece for piano and orchestra.

Compositional Technique

The Rite of Spring features a huge orchestra treated like a vast percussion instrument, with simple harmonies superimposed to create dissonant blocks of sound, rather than subtle blends or post-Wagnerian chromaticism.

Composer Biography

Igor Stravinsky, the composer, was a relatively late starter as a composer and had only a handful of works to his credit before his triumph with The Firebird in 1910.

Compositional Technique

In Petrushka, Stravinsky used a clash of keys a tritone apart (C major and F sharp major) to characterize the puppet, a sound significant for his musical development.

Interpretation

This recording of Petrushka uses the original 1911 scoring, which is described as making a more immediate, rougher, and more exciting effect than the commonly performed 1947 revised version.

Composition History

The scenario for The Rite of Spring was developed by Stravinsky in collaboration with painter and ethnographer Nikolay Roerich, aiming to evoke pre-Christian Slavic rituals.

Performer Biography

The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the world's oldest orchestras, dates back to 1765 and had Edvard Grieg as its artistic director from 1880-82.