What Device Initiates The Spring Ritual?

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 original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky, with stage designs and costumes by Nicholas. Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring is considered one of the first examples of Modernism, as it caused a riot at its first performance in 1913.

The opening sounds come from a bassoon, which is played in a very high register, rendering the instrument almost unidentifiable. Other woodwind instruments join in, making the bassoon sound like a different instrument. Stravinsky originally named the opening bassoon solo “Dudki”, which indicates that he designed it to depict the sounds of spring.

The piece starts calmly with beautiful melodies played by the violas, and the music continues to evolve. The opening is scored for sixteen first and sixteen second violins, twelve violas, twelve cellos, and a harpsichord. Stravinsky did not divulge any sources on the opening bassoon melody, but his inquiry into this subject became an elaborate scholarly endeavor.

The Rite of Spring has become one of the most notorious pieces of orchestral music ever written, as it caused a riot at its first performance in 1913. Its best recordings have made it a significant part of the history of music and continues to be a beloved work.