Please note: Some of this post comes from a previous post I published July 10, 2022 on Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring with some edits.
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Building a Collection #9
Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)
By Igor Stravinsky
“I know that the twelve notes in each octave and the variety of rhythm offer me opportunities that all of human genius will never exhaust.” –
-Igor Stravinsky
The #9 entry in the top 250 classical works of all-time, and hence #9 in our Building a Collection series, is Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. One of the most famous and influential works of all-time, Stravinsky opened up a whole new world of sound and rhythm.
Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)
The Rite of Spring ballet is one of the most important and iconic compositions in the history of music, and today we know it as more of a concert piece than a ballet. The impact of the two ballets coming before it were nothing compared to the impact of The Rite of Spring. Stravinsky had conceived of the piece a few years earlier, “I dreamed of a scene of pagan ritual in which a chosen sacrificial virgin danced herself to death.” Vaslav Nijinsky, one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the century, was the choreographer.
The Rite of Spring premiered on May 29, 1913 at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris, and it resulted in one of the biggest scandals in the history of music. It is fair to say the audience was not prepared for music of such ferocity and dissonance. The Rite of Spring was shocking in its primal rhythms, violence, and brutality. Stravinsky had chosen his friend Pierre Monteux (later to become a conducting legend) to conduct the premiere. Upon hearing the score played on the piano prior to the premiere, Monteux later reported that he had wanted to run out of the room. However, apparently nobody connected with the production anticipated such an extreme reaction from the audience.
Soon after the opening bassoon phrase, there was laughter. The laughter soon gave way to whistling and catcalls. The hissing gave way to booing, screaming, shouting, and then fighting. There was so much noise from the audience that the impresario Diaghilev had the lights in the hall turned on and off to try to calm the crowd. Insults were yelled, and meanwhile the famous composer Ravel screamed his praise. Nothing could have prepared them for the harsh, throbbing rhythms assailing their ears.
Stravinsky himself later recounted:
“That the first performance of Le Sacre du Printemps was attended by a scandal must be known to everybody. Strange as it may seem, however, I was unprepared for the explosion myself. The reaction of the musicians who came to the orchestral rehearsals had no intimation of it, and the stage spectacle did not appear likely to precipitate a riot…mild protests against the music could be heard from the very beginning of the performance. Then when the curtain opened on the group of knock-kneed and long-braided Lolitas jumping up and down (Danse des adolescents), the storm broke. Cries of “Ta gueule” (“shut up”) came from behind me. I heard Florent Schmitt shout, “Taisez-vouz garces du seizieme” (“Shut up bitches of the Sixteenth”), the “garces” of the sixteenth arrondissement were of course the most elegant ladies in Paris. The uproar continued, however, and a few minutes later I left the hall in a rage; I have never again been that angry. The music was familiar to me; I loved it, and I could not understand why people who had not yet heard it wanted to protest in advance…”
But we now know that the shock at the music was only part of what caused the riot, and that there were likely other factors that contributed, including many tourists that evening and the setup of the hall which encouraged audience interaction. Indeed, that the protests began almost from the first note indicated that something may have been brewing in advance and had little to do with the actual music. Nevertheless, the music is on a pagan theme and is shockingly different from anything that had been heard previously.
Of course we know The Rite of Spring overcame these protests, and soon impacted Europe with force. It became iconic very quickly, and became symbolic of twentieth century music in the same way Beethoven and Wagner were in the nineteenth century. Composers such as Prokofiev, Bartok, Milhaud, and Ravel among others were significantly influenced by the work. Its rhythms, explosive force, mood changes, and frequent dissonance broke with existing norms and music would never be the same again.
The Rite of Spring is divided into two parts, and then sub-parts:
Part I: L'Adoration de la Terre (The Adoration of the Earth)
Augurs of Spring
Ritual of Abduction
Spring Rounds
Ritual of the Rival Tribes
Procession of the Sage: The Sage
Dance of the Earth
Part II: Le Sacrifice (The Sacrifice)
Introduction
Mystic Circles of the Young Adolescents (Girls)
Glorification of the Chosen One
Evocation of the Ancestors
Ritual Action of the Ancestors
Sacrificial Dance
After the work’s premiere in Boston, this poem appeared in the Boston Herald:
Who wrote this fiendish Rite of Spring,
What right had he to write the thing,
Against our helpless ears to fling
Its crash, clash, cling, clang, bing, bang, bing?
And then to call it Rite of Spring
The season when on joyous wing
The birds harmonious carols sing
And harmony’s in everything!
He who could write the Rite of Spring
If I be right, by right should swing!
The Rite of Spring represented a complete break with Romanticism. In the 1930s, Stravinsky said it was not music’s job to “express” anything. While that comment was often used against him, it seems he meant that music represents music itself rather than other agendas. Stravinsky’s belief was that music was essentially form and logic, and he was known to attack performers that he felt had misinterpreted his music. His main concerns were structure, texture, balance, and rhythm. You can certainly hear those qualities in the elemental and primal power of The Rite of Spring.
Recommended recordings
There are many excellent recordings of The Rite of Spring. Nearly every conductor has recorded the work at least once, and the competition among recordings is fierce. One might assume that in a work that is essentially an orchestral showpiece, improvements in recording technology would mean that recent recordings would be favored. However, this has not proven to be the case, and many of the best recordings are older ones. A lot rests on the quality of the interpretation by the conductor and the performance by the musicians.
Top choice
The Rite of Spring played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and led by conductor Michael Tilson Thomas was recorded by the Deutsche Grammophon label in 1972. At that time, 28 year-old conductor Michael Tilson Thomas was the Assistant Conductor of the BSO. He was a protege of Leonard Bernstein, and he won the prestigious Koussevitzky Prize at Tanglewood in 1969. At the time of this recording, the Boston Symphony Orchestra was at an artistic high-point. Tilson Thomas and the orchestra made several recordings with the Deutsche Grammophon label, including this incendiary Rite of Spring. Tilson Thomas would go on to be the conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, and then the San Francisco Symphony where he has been since 1995. Tilson Thomas has made over 120 recordings in his career, and has become particularly known for his interpretations of Copland, Mahler, and Gershwin. Tilson Thomas is also a composer, perhaps most notably the orchestral work From the Diary of Anne Frank. He disclosed in March 2022 that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.
The recording at hand was one of his first recordings, and in my opinion it is his best recording. Inexplicably, this recording has been out of print at various times and was delayed in being transferred to compact disc. Today you can find it on streaming services such as Spotify and idagio, but you may have to search for it a bit. In 2012 Decca published a collection titled Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 100th Anniversary Collectors Edition which contains an extremely exhaustive collection of recordings of The Rite of Spring. Happily, it includes this wonderful recording with Tilson Thomas and the BSO. You may find used copies of the CD on the secondary market.
The young Tilson Thomas and the Boston players are on blazing form here, and this is a completely committed performance. This is everything The Rite of Spring should be: alive, brutally raw, violent, mysterious, imaginative, and powerful. If you are not exhausted by the end, you aren’t listening. This performance keeps you on the edge of your seat, and the musicians are fearless and play with abandon. It captures more than any other recording the terror and energy that was intended with this music. Tilson Thomas would go on to record Rite other times, but this first recording is something very special.
Historical choices
Leonard Bernstein was certainly one of the greatest champions and interpreters of Stravinsky’s music, and his recording with the New York Philharmonic, recorded in 1958 by CBS/Columbia (now Sony), is still considered one of the very best recordings the work has received. The Rite of Spring played directly into Bernstein’s strengths as a conductor, the volcanic personality of Bernstein melding with the rhythmic ferocity and mystery of the music.
Another classic account is from The Philharmonia led by conductor Igor Markevitch, recorded in 1959 at Abbey Road in London by EMI (now Warner). The sound is a bit compromised, but still very enjoyable. Flexibility, precision, and drama underline Markevitch’s understanding of the score.
Modern choices
The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez recorded The Rite of Spring for CBS/Columbia (now Sony) in 1969, and many listeners still regard this recording as the best Rite ever. It is impressive in pristine sound for its time, the precision, accuracy and virtuosity of the playing is astonishing. Boulez was a bit of an iconoclast, but revered Stravinsky and here takes a logical and structured approach, never letting the madness get completely out of control. Boulez also made a second, also very good recording of the Rite with the Clevelanders later with Deutsche Grammophon.
Composer and sometimes conductor Peter Eotvos led the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie in a terrific Rite recorded by Budapest Music in 2006. It is a bit difficult to find, though I was able to stream it on Spotify. This is a fantastic recording and performance by the German Youth Philharmonic, which comes close to the Tilson Thomas recording in its abandon, brutality, terror, and unearthliness. The sound is excellent. A triumphant recording that needs to be heard.
Other recordings to consider
RIAS Orchestra Berlin conducted by Ferenc Fricsay (DG, 1957)
Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez (DG, 1992)
Kirov Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev (Philips/Universal, 2001)
Columbia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Igor Stravinsky (Sony, 1960)
The Philharmonia conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen (Sony, 1990)
I hope you will join us next time for Building a Collection #10 when we will discuss Mozart’s delightful opera Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute). Thank you for reading!
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Notes:
Brennan, Gerald. Schrott, Allen. Woodstra, Chris. All Music Guide to Classical Music, The Definitive Guide. All Media Guide. Pp. 1335-1336. Backbeat Books, San Francisco. 2005.
Lunday, Elizabeth. Secret Lives of Great Composers. Frederic Chopin. Pp. 216-218. Quirk Books, Philadelphia. 2009.
Schonberg, Harold C. The Lives of the Great Composers (Revised Edition). Pp. 494-496. W. W. Norton & Company, New York. 1981.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tilson_Thomas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Diaghilev