Rite of Spring

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Recommended: Stravinsky the rite of spring analysis

Almost definitely imitating the act of new life waking in the spring soil, Stravinsky starts the haunting introduction to his world-renown ballet, Rite of Spring, with a high-pitched lone bassoon. The unstable eeriness continues as a horn and pair of clarinets join in the rubato tempo. Just as everything wakes and bursts into life in spring, so does the piece as more and more instruments join in. Each instrument seems to have a different theme, but seems necessary in portraying the thick texture needed to symbolize the inevitable climactic arrival of Spring. After the orchestra has finished its first outburst and almost all instruments have initially come in, a strange harmonic effect is applied to the viola. As the orchestra draws to a climax the sound is cut-off, and the eerie feeling returns as the bassoon takes its initial theme. This time the orchestra does not burst in afterwards. Instead, a string bridge appears and the next movement greets us. The main emphasis of the orchestration in this movement seems to appear in the strings and the Horns. The initial chord is a polychord of Eb 7 and F minor. Heavy strings accompany horns that do not play when expected (polyrhytms). There are accented off beats everywhere (I counted accents on 9, 2, 6, 3, 4, 5 and 3). Thick homophonic strings appear, and are followed by a sudden surge in bassoons and cellos (in different keys- C major and E minor arpeggios all following ...

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