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219
CHAPTERfi53 Calculated Shock: Stravinsky
and Modernist Multimedia
1. percussive use of dissonance
2. polytonality, polyrhythms
3. monumental orchestra
a. harsh, loud, constantly changing colors
b. strings: successive down bows, pizzicatos
c. full force of brass and barbaric percussion
4. melodies: Rus sian folk tunes quoted; folk- song-
like manner
a. extended repetitions, limited ranges, fragmented
5. minimized harmonic changes: ostinatos, pedal
points, melodic repetition
6. innovative interaction between rhythm and meter
D. LG 45: Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le sacre du
printemps), Part I, excerpts (1913)
1. Introduction
a. haunting mood: awakening of the Earth in
spring
b. folk tune, high- range bassoon
c. pizzicato ostinato in violins
d. free, shifting meter
2. Dance of the Youths and Maidens
a. sectional form
b. Rus sian folk- song melodies alternate with
nonmelodic sound blocks
c. forceful, high energy, huge orchestra
d. opens with polytonal, percussive chords by
strings
e. constant eighth- note motion, unpredictable
accents
f. expanding texture, loud dynamics build to
climax
3. Game of Abduction
a. fast tempo, no established pulse, unpredict-
able accents
OUTLINE
I. The Rite of Spring: Collaborative Multimedia
A. Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)
1. Rus sian composer, pianist, conductor
2. Ballets Russes commissions: The Firebird,
Petrushka, The Rite of Spring
3. WWI: refuge in Switzerland, then France
4. WWII: emigrated to U.S., 1945 became U.S.
citizen
5. concertized around the world
6. musical style evolved: post- Impressionism, prim-
itivism, controlled Classicism, twelve- tone works
7. leader in revitalization of rhythm, increased
complexity
8. great orchestrator: polished brightness, clear
texture
9. output: orchestral music, ballets, operas, other
theater works, choral music, chamber music,
piano music, songs
B. The Rite of Spring
1. subtitled “Scenes of Pagan Rus sia”
2. embodies cult of primitivism
3. composed for Paris- based Ballets Russes
a. near- riot at Paris premiere
b. received negatively by traditionalists
4. fully integrated multimedia spectacle
a. Serge Diaghilev: Rus sian impresario
b. groundbreaking choreography: Vaslav
Nijinsky
c. experimental stage designs: Nicholas Roerich
d. music: shocking, unsettling quality
5. performed later as in de pen dent concert piece
C. Musical Innovation
220 | Chapterfi53
excerpts (Dance of the Youths and Maidens and Game
of Abduction) from the ballet (audio only) and have stu-
dents in pairs match the modernist musical gestures
with notions of the “primitive.” How does Stravinsky
succeed in evoking primitivism through music? Play the
excerpts again with choreography and staging. Again,
how do Stravinsky’s collaborators succeed in establish-
ing a “primitive” world?
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. The scandal surrounding the premiere of The Rite of
Spring is one of the great events of artistic modernism.
Yet, as the textbook notes, Stravinsky and the Ballets
Russes management went to great lengths to ensure the
success of this event. Can you think of any recent exam-
ples of music or multimedia events that sparked a simi-
lar kind of controversy? Can you think of any that were
promoted as publicity stunts? If so, does this fact change
the value of the work for audiences? Do you feel that it
reviews and negative reception? Have we seen examples
of this in earlier style periods and eras? How do the cul-
tural politics of the avant- garde interact with the aesthet-
ics of modernism?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
b. scurrying melodic figures and horn calls,
brief folk tune
c. frenetic and primitive mood
d. harshly dissonant, crashing chords
e. dense texture, constantly changing timbres
OVERVIEW
This chapter introduces ballet as a form of integrated multi-
media spectacle in early modernist art. The Rite of Spring is
discussed as a collaboration among Stravinsky and other
prominent French and Rus sian artists, who together created
an enduring modernist work that both shocked and amazed
its first audience.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the ballet The Rite of Spring as a collab-
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Without alluding to the program of the ballet, play for
students audio excerpts from The Rite of Spring. Ask
them to postulate a plausible program for the ballet. What
do they imagine is the subject of the ballet? If students
2. Find a video recording of The Rite of Spring that features
Nijinsky’s original choreography and Roerich’s stage
niques Stravinsky employed in this work (metrical disso-
point the lyr ics reveal this character’s suicidal thoughts
(“I’ll take a quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide”).
After a minute of the song, water begins to fill the bottom
of the screen, and viewers soon realize that Yorke is in
some kind of aquar ium that is slowly being filled with
water. When the water reaches Yorke’s mouth and nose on
gasps for breath while mouthing the final chorus with a
smile on his face. This video provides ambiguity to the
YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE
Consider the music videos of one of your favorite songs or
any video of music you consider especially meaningful that
MODEL RESPONSE
