Post by Catsmate on Feb 3, 2022 12:52:57 GMT
A quickie from my notes, inspired by the actually Spring-like weather today.
Rites of Spring
Ah, spring is in the air. Snowdrops are appearing. St. Brigid's Day has passed with celebrations1. Or Inbolc if you prefer.
Which naturally reminds me of a ballet, Disney's Fantasia and a riot.
While best known today simply as piece of music Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (wiki) was originally written over a century ago as a ballet, commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes in Paris. Stravinsky’s first two efforts, The Firebird and Petrushka, which premiered in 1910 and 1911 respectively, were unqualified successes.
The reception in 1913 for the premiere of The Rite of Spring was rather different.
When first performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29MAY19132, the avant-garde nature of the music, and of it's choreography, caused a sensation, sometimes described as a "riot" or "near-riot". Though this phraseology does not appear in print until reviews of later performances in 1924.
In comparison to his earlier works, with The Rite of Spring Stravinsky changed direction dramatically, moving from the conventional melodic traditions of classical music to utilise new, untested, concepts of (a)tonality, metre, stress and dissonance and irregular stresses and rhythms.
The story of its premiere in 1913 at Paris's Théâtre des Champs-Élysées has been told and retold many times since, with much embellishment and often by people who weren't actually there, so that now it is difficult to know exactly what happened3.
Certainly there was a considerable disturbance among the audience, and that people had to be ejected. It seems that the unfamiliarity and strangeness of the music itself probably wasn't the principal cause, rather the ballet dancing had unusual and 'primal' choreography that triggered an odd response in some of the audience.
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris was a new construction (it opened on 02APR1913) with a conventional programme of music. But the theatre's manager, Gabriel Astruc, was determined to house the 1913 Ballets Russes season; he paid Sergei Diaghilev (founder and manager of the the Ballets Russes) 25,000 francs (about one thousand pounds Sterling) per performance; double that of the previous year. Ticket sales for the premiere were valued at 35-40,000 francs.
The programme for the evening included Chopin's Les Sylphides, Weber's Le Spectre de la Rose and Borodin's Polovtsian Dances.
On the evening of 29MAY it was said that "Never ... has the hall been so full, or so resplendent; the stairways and the corridors were crowded with spectators eager to see and to hear".
The atmosphere didn't last.
It's believed that trouble began during the Introduction sequence; either Nijinsky's choreography or Stravinsky's music upset a lot of people and fighting broke out, which lasted through Part I of the ballet. It's not definitely sure if the police were involved, but over forty people were ejected and fighting continued outside the theatre.
A difference of opinion over musical tastes perhaps? Paris was 'riot prone' in the period and disputes over politics, the arts and more often led to skirmishes in the streets.
Or was the cause something else? Some strange effect that Stravinsky or Nijinsky incorporated into the work, perhaps unknowingly.
Comments? Ideas?
1. Just wait for next year when it's a Public Holiday.
2. Which, I think we'll all agree, is well after Spring.
3. Unless one can travel in time perhaps. Certainly I suspect the historians of St. Mary's would be interested in a field trip.
Rites of Spring
Ah, spring is in the air. Snowdrops are appearing. St. Brigid's Day has passed with celebrations1. Or Inbolc if you prefer.
Which naturally reminds me of a ballet, Disney's Fantasia and a riot.
While best known today simply as piece of music Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (wiki) was originally written over a century ago as a ballet, commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes in Paris. Stravinsky’s first two efforts, The Firebird and Petrushka, which premiered in 1910 and 1911 respectively, were unqualified successes.
The reception in 1913 for the premiere of The Rite of Spring was rather different.
When first performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29MAY19132, the avant-garde nature of the music, and of it's choreography, caused a sensation, sometimes described as a "riot" or "near-riot". Though this phraseology does not appear in print until reviews of later performances in 1924.
In comparison to his earlier works, with The Rite of Spring Stravinsky changed direction dramatically, moving from the conventional melodic traditions of classical music to utilise new, untested, concepts of (a)tonality, metre, stress and dissonance and irregular stresses and rhythms.
- Now, today in 2022 it's tricky to imagine how groundbreaking and new this music would have sounded to an audience in 1913. In the last century music adopted many of the innovations Stravinsky championed; today The Rite of Spring sounds fairly conventional, more "classical" than avant-garde to modern listeners.
The story of its premiere in 1913 at Paris's Théâtre des Champs-Élysées has been told and retold many times since, with much embellishment and often by people who weren't actually there, so that now it is difficult to know exactly what happened3.
Certainly there was a considerable disturbance among the audience, and that people had to be ejected. It seems that the unfamiliarity and strangeness of the music itself probably wasn't the principal cause, rather the ballet dancing had unusual and 'primal' choreography that triggered an odd response in some of the audience.
- Now it must be pointed out that Parisian audiences, especially for ballet, in the pre-War period were highly polarised. Typically they were split between two groups (with smaller factions); one one side were the the wealthy and fashionable upper-classes ("the boxes"), who would be have been expecting to see a 'traditional' performance with excellent music and choreography. The other side was the 'Bohemians', mostly middle-class, who were keen to overturn conventional artistic traditions.
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris was a new construction (it opened on 02APR1913) with a conventional programme of music. But the theatre's manager, Gabriel Astruc, was determined to house the 1913 Ballets Russes season; he paid Sergei Diaghilev (founder and manager of the the Ballets Russes) 25,000 francs (about one thousand pounds Sterling) per performance; double that of the previous year. Ticket sales for the premiere were valued at 35-40,000 francs.
The programme for the evening included Chopin's Les Sylphides, Weber's Le Spectre de la Rose and Borodin's Polovtsian Dances.
On the evening of 29MAY it was said that "Never ... has the hall been so full, or so resplendent; the stairways and the corridors were crowded with spectators eager to see and to hear".
The atmosphere didn't last.
It's believed that trouble began during the Introduction sequence; either Nijinsky's choreography or Stravinsky's music upset a lot of people and fighting broke out, which lasted through Part I of the ballet. It's not definitely sure if the police were involved, but over forty people were ejected and fighting continued outside the theatre.
A difference of opinion over musical tastes perhaps? Paris was 'riot prone' in the period and disputes over politics, the arts and more often led to skirmishes in the streets.
Or was the cause something else? Some strange effect that Stravinsky or Nijinsky incorporated into the work, perhaps unknowingly.
- I'm reminded of The Shakespeare Code.
Comments? Ideas?
1. Just wait for next year when it's a Public Holiday.
2. Which, I think we'll all agree, is well after Spring.
3. Unless one can travel in time perhaps. Certainly I suspect the historians of St. Mary's would be interested in a field trip.