The Rite of Spring is a ballet and orchestral concert work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, premiered at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris on May 29, 1913. It is an entire ballet, making it difficult to define its form and its two distinct parts, making it even more challenging to think of it as a single form. Stravinsky’s work is characterized by its alien harmonies and jagged rhythms, which signalled the birth of modern music in 1913.
The Rite of Spring is not atonal, but Stravinsky used polytonality, stacking multiple harmonies on top of each other to create a binary form. This binary form is due to the contrast within the piece. The genre of this piece is that of a ballet, and it also is considered a concert and opera.
The Dance of the Youths and Maidens from Part I of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring is a simple minuet form. The Rite of Spring is set in pagan Russia and involves the ritual sacrifice of a young maiden to ensure a good harvest. While Stravinsky’s work is not atonal, it feels that way. The harmonic structure is nothing if not for the polytonality in places.
In contrast, The Nutcracker uses a binary form, while Indian music seems to use ternary rhythms. Through The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky ushered in the end of musical time, as we know it. The work’s expansion and contraction of rhythmic cells, along with its unique features, make it a significant work in the history of music.
📹 The Rite Steps: Reconstructing “The Rite of Spring”
“Although the reconstruction process undertaken by Hodson and Archer relies on diverse source material to suggest a restoration …
What form is The Rite of Spring?
The Rite of Spring is a ballet and orchestral concert work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company. The avant-garde nature of the music and choreography caused a sensation when first performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29 May 1913. The music achieved equal or greater recognition as a concert piece and is widely considered one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century.
Stravinsky was a young, virtually unknown composer when Diaghilev recruited him to create works for the Ballets Russes. The concept behind The Rite of Spring, developed by Nicholas Roerich from Stravinsky’s outline idea, is suggested by its subtitle, “Pictures of Pagan Russia in Two Parts”. The scenario depicts various primitive rituals celebrating the advent of spring, after which a young girl is chosen as a sacrificial victim and dances herself to death.
The ballet was not performed again until the 1920s, when a version choreographed by Léonide Massine replaced Nijinsky’s original, which saw only eight performances. Massine’s production was the forerunner of many innovative productions directed by the world’s leading choreographers, gaining work worldwide acceptance. In the 1980s, Nijinsky’s original choreography was reconstructed by the Joffrey Ballet in Los Angeles.
Stravinsky’s score contains many novel features for its time, including experiments in tonality, metre, rhythm, stress, and dissonance. The music influenced many of the 20th-century’s leading composers and is one of the most recorded works in the classical repertoire.
What type of music is The Rite of Spring?
The Rite of Spring is a ballet and orchestral concert work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, written for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company in 1913. The avant-garde nature of the music and choreography caused a sensation and near-riot in the audience. The music achieved equal or greater recognition as a concert piece, and is widely considered one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century. Stravinsky was a young, virtually unknown composer when Diaghilev recruited him to create works for the Ballets Russes.
The concept behind The Rite of Spring, developed by Nicholas Roerich from Stravinsky’s outline idea, suggests that after primitive rituals celebrating the advent of spring, a young girl is chosen as a sacrificial victim and dances herself to death. The ballet was not performed again until the 1920s, when a version choreographed by Léonide Massine replaced Nijinsky’s original. In the 1980s, the Joffrey Ballet in Los Angeles reconstructed Nijinsky’s original choreography.
Stravinsky’s score contains many novel features for its time, including experiments in tonality, metre, rhythm, stress, and dissonance. The music has influenced many of the 20th-century’s leading composers and is one of the most recorded works in the classical repertoire.
Why is Rite of Spring so controversial?
On May 29, 1913, Les Ballets Russes in Paris performed The Rite of Spring, a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. The performance was characterized by a rhythmic score and primitive scenario, setting scenes from pagan Russia. The complex music and violent dance steps, depicting fertility rites, initially sparked unrest, leading to a riot. The Paris police intervened but only restored limited order, causing chaos for the rest of the performance.
Despite this, Sergei Diaghilev, the director of Les Ballets Russes, praised the scandal as “just what I wanted”. The ballet completed its run of six performances without further disruption. The piece is considered a 20th-century masterpiece and is often heard in concert. In 1988, the Joffrey Ballet reconstructed Nijinsky’s original setting, televised nationally on PBS, 75 years after its premiere.
What did audiences find shocking about The Rite of Spring?
The opening notes of a ballet sparked a ruckus in the auditorium due to the high-pitched bassoon solo. The audience’s wild shouting made it difficult to hear the music. Stravinsky panicked and ran backstage, but chaos ensued. Diaghilev had expected a ruckus, but he instructed the conductor, Pierre Monteux, to keep going despite the chaos. The performance continued, and Stravinsky and Nijinsky were unaware of the chaos. The performance was a testament to the power of music and the power of imagination.
Is The Rite of Spring difficult to play?
“The Rite of Spring” is a masterpiece in twentieth-century orchestration, known for its catchy and memorable nature. However, it is a challenging piece to play, with the first recording to achieve the desired effect coming from Pierre Boulez with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1969. The piece was considered impossible to play precisely as written before. The composer also enjoys matching music to the season and weather, such as jazz, which can transform “depressing” weather into “atmospheric” ones. “Spring” from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” might match the spring weather in Georgia, but in South Bend, where it’s snowy, hails, and winds, “The Rite of Spring” is more suitable.
What was shocking about The Rite of Spring?
The opening notes of a ballet sparked a ruckus in the auditorium due to the high-pitched bassoon solo. The audience’s wild shouting made it difficult to hear the music. Stravinsky panicked and ran backstage, but chaos ensued. Diaghilev had expected a ruckus, but he instructed the conductor, Pierre Monteux, to keep going despite the chaos. The performance continued, and Stravinsky and Nijinsky were unaware of the chaos. The performance was a testament to the power of music and the power of imagination.
Is Rites of Spring the first emo band?
Rites of Spring, a band rooted in hardcore punk, is considered one of the first to play music in the emotional hardcore genre, or emo-core, a precursor to screamo. The band was influenced by The Faith and their 1983 EP Subject to Change, with introspective lyrics and angry, melody-tinged songwriting. The band is named after the symphonic ballet The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky, reflecting their desire to revive the D. C. punk scene.
The name was chosen to reflect the band’s desire to create a rebirth of what was stagnating for a long time, and they felt it fit the springtime type of music they were trying to create. The band’s music is described as fast and furious, lush and evocative, with a sense of drive and melody.
Why is Stravinsky so good?
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was a Russian-born composer whose work had a profound impact on the evolution of musical thought and sensibility in the 20th century. Stravinsky’s reputation is based on a small number of works, most notably The Rite of Spring. In this piece, he introduced a novel concept of music characterised by constantly changing rhythms and metric imbalances, a highly original orchestration, and markedly dissonant harmonies.
Why didn’t people like Rite of Spring?
The Rite of Spring, a ballet by Igor Stravinsky, premiered in Paris on May 29, 1913, and was expected to be a major cultural event due to the talent involved. The Ballets Russes, or “Russian Ballet”, was a hot ticket due to the Eastern exoticism of previous productions, such as Firebird and Petrushka, both composed by Stravinsky. The audience was shocked by the ugly costumes, heavy choreography, and harsh music, which was expected to shock the audience.
The choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky, was known for his shocking and often risqué choreography, such as his 1912 performance of Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un faune. The audience was shocked and with good reason.
What style of ballet is The Rite of Spring?
The Rite of Spring, a ballet created by Igor Stravinsky and Vaslav Nijinsky, represents a fusion of classical ballet and modern dance. It was originally performed by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes Company in Paris.
📹 The Rite of Spring Analysis – Ep8 – C major against F#
Annotations done in Microsoft Edge on a Microsoft Surface Book 3. Thanks so much for watching! If you see things differently than …
Hi Zach, I’ve only seen a article of the Joffrey performing the reconstruction. I’m a Stravinsky fanatic and seeing the piece performed as an entity was transcendent. I’m a 70 year old, musician by trade and longtime lover of dance in every form. I’ve researched the “Riot at the Rite” over the years. Your presentation in this article is by far the most concise and scholarly regarding the restoration of Nijinsky’s choreography I’ve ever come across. I’m so impressed that such a young guy has such skill as a teacher, scholar and presenter. I don’t get impressed too easily but you impressed the hell out of me. You have crazy skills, Sir. Keep doing what your doing. You made this old man’s day!
Each performance of a work is an entity in itself….A living thing that is born and dies in front of you, never to be truly seen again. Each performance is an approximation of the intended vision of the choreographer or composer. And if nothing else, each should be appreciated for that attempt. Because anything we do as humans is beautiful and unique…even if not perfect.
Ten years ago today my son and I were very blessed to have been in the audience for the Centenaire at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on May 29, 2013 for this. It was an experience of a lifetime! The curtain went up just after 8:00 pm but before that at 6:45 pm, was the start of the flash mob. I’m not sure why they named it that, but they did. It was 33 music conservatory students who were in front of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées yelling things in French and performing a “quasi-techno Rite, to evoke the atmosphere of the stormy premiere.”. We got inside at around 7:30 pm as doors opened and after we found our seats and after I took a few pictures of the famous interior, beautiful Art Deco cupola which was designed by the French artist Maurice Denis. Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer were in the front row, Stage Left, and we happened to see Pierre Boulez in the audience in a central box area along with the President of France at the time. Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky performed flawlessly in the pit (at least to my ears). All I could do was marvel that that was EXACTLY how the Parisian audience heard it on the same day a century earlier. Daria Pavlenko was the Chosen One that night and all I could say to myself during “The Sacrificial Dance” was “Please don’t trip. Please don’t fall.”. They did wonderfully. I remember vividly the sound of the sliding shoes on the stage during “Ritual Action of the Ancestors”. To this day that’s stayed with me. We didn’t care much for the Sasha Waltz version that came after our intermission (after the 1913 reconstruction) and it was somewhat shocking at least to us.
I think if Patti Lupone stopped mid performance to yell at me WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE I would just evaporate into thin air. (Of course, I don’t take pictures at a theatre performance so…) Each performance is difference. Each dancer is different and will — and should — interpret the role for themselves. I think for purposes of seeing the ballet that Nijinsky choreographed, that Stravinsky wrote, that Roerich designed, this is as close as we can get. The research was painstaking and rigorous, and where there were holes to be filled they didn’t just do whatever they wanted. They looked at what they did know and made an educated guess. So is it piece for piece Nijinsky’s choreography? Probably not. But until we can hop in a time machine and go see it for ourselves this is what we have. They achieved an amazing dramaturgical feat and personally I feel that we owe all of them (and especially Marie Rambert for being a packrat!) a great deal. The first time I was the reconstructed ballet I was entranced. If it’s even a small fraction of what the original Rite was I can see how people got so hot under the collar. That said, if we can’t prove it… just enjoy it! Who cares.
Fantastic article and critique of dance reconstruction! Ever since I first heard the Rite, I loved it for its energetic rhythms, the ballet, and the “legend” of its history. I’ve always accepted the Joffrey reconstruction as the way it was performed in 1913 but I see it differently now after your article. I actually kind of find it disrespectful to not treat dance as it’s own form of art. We cannot call something the same dance just because it’s performed to the same music and in highly similar wardrobe
Thanks for this insightful article! You are an exceptionally good presenter. To me, the discussion brings into focus the question: Are historically accurate reconstructions of artistic events really even necessary? Yes, they can offer another vantage point (and I really like Hodson’s reconstruction). But does the reconstruction still have the same effect for people in 2024 as it did in 1913? Maybe it does for many people. So, can the ballet be reinterpreted so that it hits even harder today? Maybe the Hodson reconstruction is a masterpiece. But it shouldn’t be enshrined as a museum piece. That just restrains human creativity. Stravinsky’s miraculous music and the loose storyline may one day be combined with a choreography that blows everyone away and becomes a new standard. Then, a century later, another interpretation shakes the world.
I know this sounds far-fetched, but for the sake of argument, why hasn’t “Doctor Who” done an episode about the ballet and riot yet? The show involves time-travel, I’m sure the Doctor could, at least, make a passing remark about it. Meanwhile, I kind wish my music teachers from elementary or middle school told us about this ballet. They probably did but I just couldn’t remember or was absent but still, considering how ballet is stereotyped as “girly” or “boring”, I sense that something like this could spark a kid’s interest. That being said, I can understand why schools would be hesitant to teach children about “The Rite” as the music and even some of the dance movements could be scary.
I was recently perusal on Youtube the drama the BBC made abut the creation of this work, Riot at the Rite. I have always thought of it as a reconstruction and watch it knowing that is can only ever be a partial look into what Njinsky. I don’t know about in North America, but in the UK, although the works of this period are still performed, it does feel like that they are gradually waning. It seems such a fascinating period in history, with so many people heading to France to share their love of dance. When somebody does reconstruct a ballet in this way, who owns the performance rights, the reconstructor or the original choreographer?
I look forward to your discussing recent, contemporary versions of The Rite of Spring which have totally departed from all that you are championing here, from historical precedence…or perhaps that would have you venturing into unfamiliar, out-of-the-box territory you would rather leave to others, with a feel for the ‘now’ rather than being bound by the ‘then’. Stravinsky broke free from the past but can you break free from the first performance of The Rite of Spring?
Maybe I can help…at the very least you do realize Nijinsky’s ballet was performed 9 times.. Nine. So the ballet’s erosion over time was Massine’s restaging with the Ballet Russes which was in 1920 and something I think that dumb Stravinsky/Chanel movie used. Robert Joffrey, having studied with Marie Rambert had some insight into Nijinsky after all, she was assistant. And years into the reconstruction her notes were found and served as the yardstick by which the authenticty was measured. I am not really sure where you are going here? I think I have every doc on my Le Sacre website. If you want to kick it around I would love to chat on it.
Throughly enjoyed this article! Thank you for making it! I think at the end of the day, the reconstruction although may not be the 100% original version, was still a nobel intent to recreate the original. I don’t think Hodson would spend years of research just to scam people. The ends justifies the means. Only god and the people who were there that night in May will know what the original choreography looked like.
This was a great thing to watch. I’ve been entranced by the Russian production (early 2000s) of this since I 1st saw it, still gives me goosebumps, but having read much about Nijinsky, Diaghilev et al, this program was still an eye-opener. The more background info you have, the richer the perusal experience. So thank you for all the research! It will help inform every subsequent production I see. Just which production is the one playing under the final credits? Looks like an oldie in B&W.
Thank you Zach. This is a well researched and insightful essay. There is one thing you discuss but pass over too easily. Every live performance of dance or music is going to be slightly different. Humans have different emotional, physical and psychological situations from night to night, week to week. No two will be the “same.” Richard Burton, when performing “Hamlet” said during an interview that he became a little bored during some scenes so one night he jumped onto a table and jumped up and down delivering his lines. Pina Bausch, when performing an early version of “Cafe Muller” (with her eyes closed throuthout) said she felt different one night and realized her feelings, hence interpretation, depended whether her eyes were facing forward or down to the floor behind closed lids. That made a difference. Then, there’s “Kontakthof.” First performed with her standard dancers, then much later restaged with all performers over 65. Then, ten years later she staged it with teenagers from 14-18 years of age. So, which one is the authentic version of “Kontakthof”? Suggestion: Also, 1913 saw the emergence of Expressionism, in music, art, dance and even film, with “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari through Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”. This is a factor which needs to be in your history since the expressionist movement in art itself was very controversial’ Again, I learned a lot from your article Zach, but the human factor precludes any two performances being exactly the same, unless you film a performance and then watch that recording, and remember it in context: the beginning of the controversial expressionist movement.
OMG! This article is an informative gem since all the information is relevant and of great importance for the history of dance. Thank you for breaking down and analyzing a piece that marked a very important stage in the performing arts. Greetings from Mexico. (Hopefully in the future your articles can be subtitled for the entire Latino community) 🖤
Hi “Zach Barr”. We can be sure if the reconstruction is accurate is because of an element that is never mentioned. Rite is a ballet for marionettes. All the dancers are marionettes, hence all the jumping. You can tell if a movement is true by seeing it as a marionette movement. Marionettes can do all sorts of stuff that dancers cannot, which is why it is so hard to dance. The groups of three women in a line and 6 dancers in a circle are imitations of 3 or 6 marionettes operated by one puppeteer. This is why the “look” is so wooden. The face and hands of the puppets are made of wood. Petrouchka is also a marionette ballet. The quality of the performance can be measured by how strictly the group dancers act together. Because their strings are all held by the one puppeteer their movements must be exactly together with an unreal precision but also a loose awkwardness. It is easy to see dancers out of place in any production.
I’m not sure why we need to talk about an authentic choreography. Even then when it was in the repertoire everyone brought something different to each performance. Let’s face it, it’s impossible to know Nijinsky original choreography so it’s pointless to argue whose reconstruction is correct or close. Let’s just appreciate those who love this ballet and want to keep it going.
Coming at this from a historical costuming perspective. Lots of ppl recreate either sirvivong clothes or design thier own based on patterns and research. When there are no muesums and all clothes have been lost, and im showing an alien a picture of the suit i made in the style of the 1830’s, will they have an idea of what that looks like? Yes. Could they draw scholarly conclusions from it?…. maybe? From what ive heard of this show it started out much sexier. Was disdapionted when you read the quotes about it being tame. Maybe the og rite of spring was the bisexual orgy all along
Wait, wait, wait! Jean Cocteau was at the riot?! “La Belle Et Le Bete” Cocteau? The guy Kyle Kallegren and SomeJerkWithACamera fought over? That, I didn’t know. I should’ve as he was part of the Russian ballet. Meanwhile, this sort of reminds me of what happened to the “Carrie” musical back in the 80’s. It’s been said that there was tons of booing from the audience, yet, from the show recordings, it seemed to have been the opposite.
The Mariinsky performance (which should have been authentic) is physically and psychologically weightless and insipid; it is simply awful. The Mariinsky stage decorations can’t hold a candle to the Joffrey’s which include Roerich’s full stage decorations which include painted side panels. ( One article documented Mariinsky performance ditches the painted floor cloth) Joffrey still gets my vote for the superior quality of its performance. I saw it close to its premiere in the theater and it was powerful as well as uniquely moving. It also “felt” close to the SPIRIT of what must have been Nijinsky’s original intent.
The reconstruction managed to give a broader and clearer view of the Rite’s aesthetics even if it’s not down to the core accurate. And that is its significance. Regarding the riot, you seem to be a skeptic of written history even if Stravinsky himself has described the event. More like coming from a conspiracy theorist, it seems.
it is the keymoment in the 20th century – the beatles at shea stadium doesnt really compare. maybe if the beatles featured ginger baker and jimi hendrix andy warhol did the stage and nobody heard a rock song before that day. the other examples really dont get close at all….the cheops pyramid if anything