The rite of spring -Stravinsky

• Ostinati are present
• Dissonant harmony is present
• FURTHER LISTENING

  • Listen to Stravinsky's own interpretation of The Rite of Spring, dating from 1960 (Sony BMG Music Entertainment label)
  • Other nationalist works by Stravinsky: The Firebird, Petrouchka, Les Noces (The Wedding)
  • Other contemporary works: Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, Debussy: Jeux, Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin
• Parallelism with 4ths and 7ths is utilized
• Bitonal structures are used
• Non-functional harmony is used, avoiding cadential harmony
• Whole-tone structures are employed, e.g., the chord of B-D-E-G#
• Harmonic stasis is observed
• SET WORKS

  • Fragmented and punctuated by chords
  • Fragmented
  • Angular woodwind melodies
  • Chords plus conjunct melodic fragment
  • Stamping chords
• Drones are used
• Parallelism


  1. 4ths (Fig. 1 in clarinets)

  2. Parallel 4ths and 7ths (Fig. 3 in bassoons)

  3. Whole-tone structures, e.g. the chord of B-D-E-G#, albeit clouded by chromatic movement, at Fig. 8

  4. Bitonal structures, e.g. Fig. 13 with its combination of Fb major (enharmonic E major) in the bass and dominant 7th of Ab in treble

  5. Polytonal structures, e.g. Fig. 14 with chords of E major, E minor, C major and V' of Ab

  6. Superimposed 5ths chord (Eb-Bb-F-C-G-D), combined with C major broken chord (Fig. 16)

  7. Superimposed 4ths chord (one beat before Fig. 18)

  8. Parallel second inversion 7th chords, embedded in the middle of an opulent orchestral texture (Fig. 28) - see example from Fig. 28 on page 139

  9. Parallel 7th chords, again as part of a larger texture

  10. Dissonances involving 9th chords (Fig. 37)
• There are vestigial tonal references (drones and melodies), but avoidance of functional tonality
• Stravinsky's earliest works

  Draw extensively on folk music
• Harmonic stasis


  • Fig. 13
• The music is organised in 'blocks' of sound, sometimes internally organised as a sort of mosaic made up of short contrasting fragments
• Characteristic features of the melodic writing

  • Chromatic lines, e.g. Fig. 4 in the piccolo clarinet
  • Wide leaps, e.g. Fig. 8 in flute
  • Angular lines, involving 4ths and 5ths, e.g. Fig. 9 in oboe
  • Ostinati, e.g. the four-note figure which runs throughout 'The Augurs of Spring' after first appearing in violin I, four bars after Fig. 12
  • Repeated note figures and conjunct lines, e.g. fifth bar of Fig. 28
  • Breaking down and reforming of melodic lines, e.g. Fig. 25 where fragments of the first four bars are reworked in the second four-bar phrase
  • Whooping hunting calls (perfect 5ths) at Fig. 40 in 'Ritual of Abduction'
• Characteristics showing folksong influences

  • Chromatic lines
  • Wide leaps
  • Angular lines
  • Ostinati
  • Repeated notes
• Litauische Volks-Weisen was mentioned in 1900
• The famous opening theme of The Rite was derived from No. 157 of the Juszkiewicz collection, with the original four metrically regular triple-time phrases transformed into an improvisatory line
• Celebrated for its rhythmic complexity, especially in the final dance with constantly shifting metres
• 'Ritual of Abduction' contains an almost full homophonic tutti
• No dynamic level is given for the bassoon solo, either at the opening or on its return at Fig. 12; evidently this aspect was left to the discretion of the instrumentalist and conductor
• 'Ritual of Abduction' is presto with frequent metrical irregularities
• Folksong influences in The Rite

  • Grace notes
  • Pitch outline preserved almost intact, time signature changed
  • Last two phrases separated by a rest
  • Hexatonic (six-note) scale used
  • Melody borrowed from Juszkiewicz
• In 'The Augurs of Spring'

  1. Homorhythmic chords

  2. Ostinato with broken chord support

  3. Melody-dominated homophony with melodic fragments heard over repeated chords

  4. Cross-rhythmic layers of ostinato in straight quavers with triplet quavers in violas, overlaid with chordal blasts and brief melodic snatches

  5. Brief canonic entries

  6. Melody-dominated homophony with multi-layered accompaniment
• Perhaps Lithuanian folk song was selected because paganism persisted longer in Lithuania than in Russia itself
• The dynamic range of the first three sections of The Rite of Spring covers the full range pp - ff
• The Introduction of The Rite of Spring contrasts with the remaining prescribed passages because of its slow rubato tempo at the start
• 'The Augurs of Spring' is Tempo giusto (strict time), in duple time, with frequent asymmetric stresses, and a relentless pulse apart from two pause bars before Fig. 22
• Woodwind effects

  • Tremolandi in flutes
  • Flutter-tonguing in flute, oboes, and clarinets
  • Pizzicato violin and viola
  • Violin trill
  • Pizzicato solo cello
  • Single sustained
• Effects in 'The Augurs of Spring'

  • Celebrated stamping chords
  • Eight-part string chords formed from four sets of double-stopping
  • Heavily accented chords reinforced by intermittent doubling by eight horns
• Strings involvement

  • Pizzicato violin and viola
  • Violin trill
  • Pizzicato solo cello
  • Single sustained bass note on solo double bass
• Other effects

  • Muted trumpet chords followed by flutter-tonguing in flutes and clarinets
  • Col legno combined with tremolandi in bassoons and violins
  • Background texture involving trills in clarinets and bassoons, ostinato in trombone, flute melody, string scales, triangle and antique cymbals, overlaid by the trumpets in parallel chords
• Tempo constantly shifting
• The dynamic range spans from pp to ff
• Woodwind effects

  • Tremolandi in flutes
  • Flutter-tonguing in flute, oboes and clarinets
• Divisi double basses

  1. Four playing harmonics

  2. One muted

  3. One playing pizzicato with two muted cellos
• Texture in the Introduction

  • Monophonic opening
  • Passage for two parts
  • Three parts forming a sort of melody and accompaniment
  • 'Layered' texture
  • Four-part homorhythms
• The passage at Fig. 14 is lightly scored for cor anglais, bassoons and pizzicato cellos
• The Rite of Spring was first performed on 29 May 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, and provoked brawls among the audience