Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring
Biography outline
Grew up in St. Petersburg and family estate at Ustilug (in Ukraine near Polish border
Father was opera singer – Stravinsky privately trained, disciple of Rimsky-Korsakov (d. 1908) –
member of circle of young, “progressive,” nationalist composers around Rimsky – early works
performed in Russia
Firebird commmission from Diaghilev, 1910 – other Paris ballets (see below) – Back and forth
from France to Russia – participated in musical life of both
War and Revolution, 1914-1918 – Stravinsky already living in Switzerland because of wife’s
health – Very opposed to Bolshevik Revolution (1918) – Lost family fortune and artistic contacts
European years, 1919-1938 - resided mainly in France – Associates were now modernist
European musicians, artists, authors - supported self and family by composing, performing –
Involved in a great variety of productions: ballets, theater pieces, concert pieces, chamber music
– A couple tours of US and South America
Periodization of works
1) Russian period (1906-1920) - Most works have to do with Russia and Russian folklore -
Nightingale, 3 ballets for Paris: Firebird, Petrushka, Rite; Les Noces -
Stravinsky as autobiographer – Spoke and wrote a lot about his music and his life – e.g. “What I
wanted to express in the Rite” (1913) “Some ideas about my Octuor” (1924), Chronique de ma
vie (1935), Poetics of Music (1939), Conversations (with Craft) (1959), Dialogues etc. with Craft –
Notoriously untrustworthy – e.g. denies importance of Russian folklore, takes credit for
collaborators’ ideas, etc.
Firebird, Petrushka, Rite were all written for them – So were several later Stravinsky ballets:
Pulcinella (1920), Renard (1922), Les Noces (1923), Apollo (1928)
Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929) -- D. was a producer, not a musician or a dancer – essentially a
dilletante - worked in Royal ballet in St. Petersburg
Moved to Paris in 1909, imported most of his dancers from Russia – His operation was called the
Ballets Russes – 1909 season included ballets on Russian music: Prince Igor, Sheherazade – D.
commissioned a lot of new music from both Russian and Western composers, e.g. Stravinsky,
Debussy (Afternoon, Jeux), Prokofiev (Scythian Suite), de Falla (3-cornered hat), Poulenc (Les
Biches), Satie (Parade), Ravel (La Valse, but rejected by Diaghilev)
What did D. offer Paris? -- dance technique, novelty, exoticism (Russian fad in France), new
music, new ballets, modernism, occasional scandal
Petrushka - 1911
Later projects with Diaghiliev: Nightingale (1914), Pulcinella (1920), Mavra (1922), Reynard
(1922), The Wedding (1923), Oedipus rex (1927) and Apollo (1928).
3. Petrushka (1911)
Music: Stravinsky;
Russian setting – St. Petersburg fair in bygone times (1830s) (Shrovetide = Carnival = mardi
gras), puppet show, magic puppets that come to life: Petrushka, Ballerina, Blackamoor
Elements taken from Russian folklore: Setting, characters, scenery, tunes, modes – To Russians
these elements were nostalgic – To Parisians and other western Europeans they were exotic, i.e.
“representation of one culture for consumption by another”
Stravinsky took tunes from published collections – Some of these were obscure, some were very
familiar - HANDOUT - Stravinsky usually takes only a motif or a suggestion, not an entire tune
Tunes given exotic harmonizations to give feeling of exotic, mysterious East - compare Firebird,
where "eastern" elements were given more romantic harmonizations - juxtapositions and
dissonances make the materials sound strange and exotic – Octatonic harmonizations – i.e.
harmonizing passage with chords formed from octatonic collection of principal melodic notes, e.g.
Petrushka chord
Stravinsky also some tunes from non-Russian sources -"Elle avait une jambe en bois" by Emile
Spencer was still under copyright and Diaghilev had to pay royalties – Also 2 Austrian waltz tunes
by Joseph Lanner – Non-Russian materials make the ballet sound “popular” as well as folkloric –
These usually get diatonic harmonizations
PLAY DVD from RN 51 or so through flute playing and dance of puppets - This is recreation of
original Fokine choreography, original sets and costumes - Note exotic elements in music,
costumes, and choreography - Note how music and dance tell story together as in classic ballet
Given that the materials are so traditional, why does Petrushka seem “modern”? – Because it’s
an exotic tradition, because traditional elements are disassembled, distorted, and juxtaposed,
because of the combination of tragedy and banality
Petrushka was a huge success – People found the score dissonant and challenging but the best
“modern” music, particularly as combined with the story and dance (2nd half of Hamm reading,
not assigned) – But not successful in Russia – Because not exotic? Because nostalgic rather
than nationalistic?
Producer: Diaghilev,
Music: Stravinsky
Choreography: Vaslav Nijinsky - He didn't dance in Rite; although he did dance other ballets on
the same program
Scandal -- withdrawn after 2nd performance -- 2 performances in London got same reception –
Diaghilev’s "leaks" to the press before the performance were calculated to create a scandal -
Nijinsky's unusual choreography was as much responsible for the scandal as the music
Stravinsky’s score was immensely influential musically, from first performance on - Perhaps the
most famous piece of the century
Why? - Aggressively modern, yet primitive and vital - Same combination as Picasso, Gaugin
and other artists were successful with in same period.
We hear the Rite now almost exclusively as a concert piece - We need to remember that it was a
ballet and that the elements of dance, staging and scenery were very important
Similarities to Petrushka:
Russian theme - Ritual dance in prehistoric Russia - It was probably Roerich who first thought up
the idea
Russian melodic material - cribbed again from printed collections - Stravinsky worked over the
melodies in his sketchbook, making them less folkloric, more "primitive" - HANDOUT
Russian elements are interpreted as "primitive" rather than as "exotic" - Instead of being quaint
and touching, the ballet is "mythic" - Ballet is ritual to bring back spring and renew the fertility of
the earth - Part 1 is warm-up - basically unsuccessful rites - Part 2 is sacrifice of virgin, which
brings about spring
Costumes and scenes - scenes are semi-abstract, emphasizing nature rather than Russian
village life - costumes based on American Indians rather than Russian peasants
Melodies - Procedures aren't fundamentally different from Petrushka, but more emphasis on
rhythm and repetition -– melodies from folklore collections are sliced and diced and re-combined
– We can see this process in his sketchbooks – Stravinsky uses rhythms, ornaments and
dissonance to make them seem “primitive” instead of “exotic” – PLAY beginning
Rhythms – Repetitious but not periodic – i.e. rhythmic groupings don’t repeat predictably –
Stravinsky disturbs periodic rhythms by unexpected accents and by changing time signatures
PLAY video – Background of video – This was a re-creation by the Joffrey Ballet of the original
choreography which had been lost (After the failure of the original ballet, Diaghilev had it re-
choreographed by Fokine) – A couple of the oriignal dancers were still alive in the 1970s (esp.
Mary Rambert)