The Rite of Spring-Stravinsky

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Introduction

  • Russian Composer (1882-1971)
  • Influenced by the Russian five (incl. Korsakov) and American, Charles Ives, who wrote the Unanswered Question.
  • In 1913, a riot occurred over the Rite Of Spring
  • Deemed unacceptable
  • Outrageous themes and choreographer, Diegaleph, created an uproar amongst other members of society
  • Also composed other ballets such as 'The Firebird' and 'Petrushka'
  • Composed neoclassical, national, modern, and serial music.
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Wider Listening

  • Firebird-Stravinsky
    • Uses polyphony
    • use of chromatic descends
    • extended chords
    • cross rhythms
    • sigh motifs
  • Alice in Wonderland-Unsuk Chin
    • groupings of notes
    • ornamentation
    • atonal
    • homorhythmic
  • Eight songs for a Mad King
    • polyphonic
    • experimental with the voice
    • triplets
  • Timpani-Beethoven Symphony no 5
  • Additive rhythms-Stravinbsky-octave for wind instruments
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Melody

  • Introduction
    • Use of folk melodies in bar one and taken from Lithuanian folk
    • use of motifs:
      • idea 1-triadic in bar 2
      • idea 2-pentatonic in bar 3
      • idea 4-chromatic descend in bar 5
      • idea 5-trill figure in bar 21
      • idea 8-quartal in bar 52
  • Jeu du Rapt
    • D Mixolydian
    • call and answer in the hunting horns
    • inverted melodies
    • word painting
    • russian folk melodies
  • Les Augeres
    • Folk style melodies in the horn in bar 164
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Texture

  • Introduction
    • Monophonic-beginning
    • Thickening texture
    • Highly contrapuntal
    • Homophony in bar 33
  • Jeu du Rapt
    • Homophony in bar 277
  • Les Augers
    • heterophony
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Instrumentation

  • Introduction
    • Woodwind sound in opening
    • Exposed bass clarinets in bar 29
    • Piccolo clarinet in bar 29
    • Piccolo trumpet in bar 61
    • Harmonics in bar 62
    • Bassoon at a high tessitura
  • Jeu du Rapt
    • bells in bar 292
    • secco in bar 253
  • Les Augeres
    • Con legno in bar 161
  • Huge orchestra throughout
  • Transposed instruments
  • Use of sol-fa
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Rhythm and Metre

  • Frequently change metre
  • Introduction
    • Triplets (fig.3), Sextuplets (fig. 4), Septuplets (fig. 10) and Dectuplets (fig. 9)
    • Cross rhythms (Fig. 5 and 7)
    • Scotch snap (Fig. 9)
  • Jeu du Rapt
    • Cross rhythms (Fig. 16)
    • Offbeat stress (Fig. 13)
  • Les Augeres
    • Offbeat stress (Fig.31)
    • Displaced stress (Fig. 40)
    • Syncopation (Fig. 32)
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Harmony

  • Dissonant
  • Non-functional
  • Introduction
    • parallel 4ths (Fig.1 in clarinet)
    • parallel 4th and 7ths (fig. 3 in bassoons)
    • Wholetone structure (fig. 8)
  • Jeu du Rapt
    • Drones (fig. 24)
    • Ostinati (fig.28)
    • Harmonic stasis (fig.13)
    • Bitonal structures (fig. 13)
    • Polytonal (fig. 14)
    • Superimposed (Fig. 16 and 18)
    • Parallel second inversion 7th chords (Fig. 28)
  •  Les Augeres
    • Parallel 7th (fig. 32)
    • Dissonances involving 9th chords (Fig. 37)
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Tonality

  • Tonal references
  • Introduction
    • Polytonal (Fig. 10)
    • F Mixolydian (Fig. 9)
  • Jeu du Rapt
    • Bitonal (Fig 13-22)
    • C Mixolydian (Fig.25)
  • Les Augeres
    • Polytonal (Fig.42)
    • F major/minor (Fig. 47)
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