109 Tracks, 2:35:11
- 05:04Introduction, background and perspective
- 01:33A gentle, other-worldly start; no sign of the violence to come
- 01:57Music as mosaic; the composer as constructor
- 01:24Two functions of metrical change: going with the flow...
- 01:03...or disrupting it: a sample of metrical violence
- 00:35A stealthy entry (clarinets)
- 04:05Detour: the destabilising properties of chromaticism
- 01:04On melodies, themes and motifs
- 00:27The new cor anglais motif dominates
- 00:26The oboe's rhythmic motif takes over
- 00:38A primeval awakening
- 00:59A panoply of Stravinskyan birdsong
- 01:16A matter of mode
- 00:09Cue to Introduction
- 03:39Introduction (complete)
- 00:41Part I: The Adoration of the Earth: The Augurs of Spring / Dances of the Young Girls: The 'Rite of Spring' chord
- 01:36The great arrival: bitonality
- 01:45Putting the boot in: a metrical mugging
- 01:52The prevalence of ostinatos, and a righting of wrongs
- 00:51Metre restores (briefly) but the 'savage motif' returns
- 01:19The musical savages routed
- 01:05An important new arrival (the 'horn motif')
- 00:49Another new theme from the horns
- 01:44A crowded conclusion
- 01:31A real study in contrasts
- 01:10Panic and pandemonium as timpani open fire
- 01:35Climactic melee haunted by 'fear motif'
- 00:59Suddenly another world, as flutes hover over harmonic vapour...
- 00:51...but a transient one: new movement arises from the deep
- 00:43'Dragging feet motif' over ostinato violins, twice interrupted
- 00:46'Marching motif' developed further by flutes and horns
- 00:26A trilling commentary from piccolo and high clarinet
- 01:17'Marching motif' theme goes polymetric in huge crescendo
- 00:54An unexpected change of pace as tempo doubles
- 00:42And an unexpected reversion, to a quiet close
- 00:26Violent onslaught from brass and timpani launches the 'Rival Tribes'
- 00:23Rival Tribes, rival motifs
- 00:39Sensational violence comes close to chaos
- 01:40Effects, impressions and alteration
- 00:55A surprise re-entry and a change of instrumental clothing
- 00:35A thinning of texture, a new idea, and a rude interruption
- 00:41The new idea developed: A Minor earthquake
- 01:33The use of tone colour as an agent of rhythm
- 01:31An unusual climax...
- 00:51...and a sinister transition
- 01:30Across the threshold into an instrumental population explosion
- 01:01A sudden silence and then another world
- 00:39Catapulted into the 'Dance of the Earth'
- 03:20Tiny changes, unyielding ostinatos, massive tension
- 00:08Cue to Part I complete
- 16:09Part I (complete)
- 01:09Again a muted, subtly coloured start
- 01:07Tone colour as atmosphere - the strings' motif
- 00:23Four solo violas, above gently rocking strings
- 01:15A pregnant pause, and a new motif in muted trumpets
- 01:28Motif from the Introduction varied and extended
- 00:35New motif, heralded by clarinets and violins, is introduced by alto flute
- 00:44Variant of Motif No. 2 given out by two clarinets
- 00:33Continued by oboes and bassoons; new motif in violins, cellos and bass clarinet
- 00:39Main motifs yield to new idea from flutes
- 00:41All change - direction, tone colour, metre - and two new ostinatos
- 00:46Motif No. 1 returns in horn, then passed to flutes and strings
- 00:27Texture, balance and tone colour keep changing
- 00:41Instrumental enrichment, new counterpoint and a bleat of alarm
- 00:49New derivative of Motif No. 2, a host of new sounds - and again the bleat
- 00:45Into the finishing stretch, and we know we're in for something big
- 00:08Putting the movement back together again
- 08:16Mystic Circles of the Young Girls (complete)
- 01:37On into one of the most sensational movements ever written
- 00:36The violence is almost graphic. An example of musical terrorism
- 00:13Motif No. 2: a terrible, off-beat com-pah from strings, horns and oboes
- 00:21The air is filled with the fearsome baying of wind and violins
- 00:15A variant of Motif No. 2, but now descending
- 04:12A study in the bruality of suspense - a musical mugging
- 00:27The middle section begins with a massive but unequal confrontation
- 00:23Against the odds, the 'descending motif' comes out on top
- 01:03In the midst of the fray, a new 'rising motif' emerges...
- 01:04...and undergoes a typcially Stravinskyan expansion and compression
- 00:17A much-needed breath before the movement entire
- 01:45Glorification of the Chosen One (complete)
- 00:59The next movement consists of a single, chordal motif, three times varied
- 02:14The second statement: breaking the metrical flow
- 01:22At last the establishment of a clear and steady beat, but will it last?
- 00:42A counterpoint of ostinatos lends continuity to changing time signatures
- 00:33Horns introduce the first real motif, destabilised by multiple metres
- 00:33The motif disappears, though the background ostinato continues
- 00:49A change of mood, then the whole orchestra crashes in
- 00:44The steady pulse gives way to a tossed salad of one-bar motifs
- 01:07Lately abandoned, the steady pulse returns, as does the 'trumpet motif'
- 00:16The movement ends with a varied reprise of the opening
- 04:24Evocation of the Ancestors (complete) and Ritual Action of the Ancestors (complete)
- 00:21The last movement is based on two motifs, the first most motable for its rhythm
- 00:17The second motif is likewise predominatly rhythmical in effect
- 00:21Two variants: one a rhythmic simplification, the other an expansion
- 00:27A new section, again with two main motifs, the first from wind and strings
- 00:20This is joined by another bried but very striking motif from muted brass
- 00:35Tension dramatically increased by a violent interruption from timpani and gong
- 00:35Motif No. 2 is passed from bassoons to high wind and trumpets...
- 00:42...and is twice interrupted by horns
- 00:48Motif No. 1 erupts in full orchestra, then all hell breaks loose
- 00:27New ostinato, over implacable repetitions of Motif No. 1, offset by clarinets
- 01:12A new section, kick-started by percussion: timpani, bass drum and gong
- 00:18Horns, doubled by strings, introduce the main idea of this new section
- 00:55The return of the movement's opening section - or so we may think
- 00:40Dramatic compression of now-familiar material
- 01:00A terrifying cocktail of motifs old and new confounds expectations...
- 01:45...and leads to the coda, the final flourish of the whole work
- 00:11Cue to all of Part II and end of CD
- 18:59Part II (complete)