Review
The day seems to have passed, thankfully, for at least one development sparked by Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (1913): the concert review in ersatz, proto-Dr. Seuss-style verse, e.g.:
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 melodious carols sing
And harmony's in everything!
He who could write the Rite of Spring,
If I be right, by right should swing!
While lynching the composer -- which the anonymous author in the
Boston Herald of February 9, 1924 appears to advocate in his last couplet -- seems a bit excessive as a pan, one must remember that such vituperations only added to the air of
succès de scandale that had surrounded Rite since its Paris premiere some ten years earlier. Certainly, the impact of this legendary event (as well as similarly "colorful" receptions to the work elsewhere) expedited its recognition as an all-around seminal occurrence and achievement in the social history and art of the twentieth century. In understanding early reactions to Rite, it is worth considering that while Stravinsky was at a relatively early stage in his career, a cadre of older, well-known, more traditionally aligned composers -- Strauss, Saint-Saëns, Sibelius, Elgar, and yes, Rachmaninov -- remained active and retained a good deal of currency with audiences. At the same time, the scenario adopted by the Rite collaborators -- Stravinsky, folklorist and artist Roerich, choreographer Nijinsky, impresario Diaghilev -- was far from the usual genteel, sentimental, and romantic themes that had theretofore dominated ballet. This collection of "Scenes from Pagan Russia" (the work's subtitle) concerns itself with an exploration of nature, both human and that of the earth itself, through the rituals of renewal -- ultimately, human sacrifice -- of an earlier, "primitive" society.
The titles of the ballet's two main sections, "A Kiss of the Earth" and "The Exalted Sacrifice," as well as those of their internal divisions, make clear both the ritualistic, sacred, and inviolable progression of events reenacted via music and choreography, and the elements of that progression. Stravinsky skillfully sustains and continually heightens a sense of brutal inevitability over the span of the whole work while encapsulating more specific elements in individual scenes. The Introduction raises the curtain on the earth itself, the distinctive bassoon solo plaintively establishing a hushed, reverent mood. More complex colors -- which Stravinsky achieves through extreme instrumental ranges (as in the above instance), special playing techniques, and endlessly changing combinations drawn from his greatly expanded orchestra -- gradually emerge and expand, only to be cut off subito by a remnant of the original bassoon theme. "The Augurs of Spring" begins with one of the most famous chords in music history, a crunching bitonal sonority hammered relentlessly in a constant 2/4 meter metrically undermined by unpredictably shifting accents.
Comparable instances of such rhythmic and harmonic harshness abound throughout the work, these elements assuming, along with instrumental color, both individual and collective roles in a manner analogous to those of the characters. Like the musical elements Stravinsky uses in their portrayal, the girls, youths, and elders function together within the identity of their society, at the same time assuming and asserting individual roles in relation to one another. The action forges ahead in an increasingly frenzied trajectory, finding culmination -- in a sort of primal equivalent of cold logic -- in the charged, uncompromising sacrifical dance which ends both the ballet and the cycle of its ritual. ~ Michael Rodman, All Music Guide
Albums with Complete Performances of the Work
100 Years: A Celebration in Music [Box Set] 2007
100 Years: A Celebration in Music, Vol. 1 2007
20th Century Masterpieces [Box Set] 2008
20th Century Masters 2003
A Celebration in Music
Abbado Edition [Box Set]
Antal Dorati Conducts 2005
BBC Proms! - Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem 1999
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra; Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring 1999
Beethoven: Symphonie No. 7; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Op. 61; Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring 2007
Bernstein Conducts Stravinsky
Classical Evolution: Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring 2002
Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Nocturnes; Stavinsky: Le Sacre du printemps 1998
Deutsche Grammophon Centenary Collection, 1988-1997 (Box Set)
Eötvös Conducts Stravinsky
Fantasia 1991
Fantasia [Original Soundtrack] 1991
Favorite Stravinsky Ballets 1992
Greatest Russian Composers (Box Set) 1998
Greatest Russian Composers, Vol. 2 1998
Hommage à Stravinsky
Igor Stravinskij in Venice
Igor Stravinskij: Svecení jara; P.I. Cajkovskij: Klavírní koncert b moll
Igor Stravinsky: Composer & Conductor, Vol. 1 2002
Igor Stravinsky: La Sacre Du Printemps 1982
Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps/The Firebird
Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps; Quatre Etudes Pour Orchestre 1988
Igor Stravinsky: Petrouchka; Le Sacre du Printemps 1990
Igor Stravinsky: Petrouchka; The Rite of Spring; The Firebird 1994
Igor Stravinsky: Spring Sacrifice; Pretrushka
Igor Stravinsky: The Composer, Vol. 1 1991
Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite/Nightingale/Rite of Spring 1996
Igor Stravinsky: The Great Ballets 1993
Igor Stravinsky: The Recorded Legacy [Box Set] 1991
Igor Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring; The Firebird
Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; The Firebird 1994
Igor Strawinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 2005
Igor Strawinsky: Le sacre du Printemps; Petruschka
L'Oeuvre du XXe Siècle, Vol.1: Paris
Le Sacre du Printemps [Hybrid SACD] 2006
Legendary Recordings of Otmar Suitner [Box Set] 2002
Leopold Stokowski conducts Stravinsky, Dukas, Mussorgsky, Bach & Saint-Saëns
Les Ballets Russes, Vol. 1 2004
Liszt, Stravinsky in Transkriptionen für Orgel 1994
Maestro Celebre: Leopold Stokowski [Box Set]
Maestro Celebre: Leopold Stokowski, CD 5
Markovitch / Vishnevskaya 2000
Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 1992
Mozart: Divertimento No. 15; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps
Musik...Sprache der Welt: Selected Orchestral Recordings II [Box Set]
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibiton; Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring 2001
On Tour with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, 1896-1996 [Box Set] 1996
Panorama: Igor Stravinsky 2000
Passion (20cd) 2003
Passion for Music 2007
Passion: Rite of Spring - Igor Stravinsky 2003
Pierre Boulez Conducts Stravinsky, Debussy, Berg & Bartok
Pierre Boulez: Artist's Album 2000
Pierre Monteux Conducts Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Stravinsky 2008
Pierre Monteux Decca & Philips Recordings 1956-1964 [Box Set] 2006
Pierre Monteux Edition [Box Set] 1994
Pierre Monteux in France (1952-58 Conert Performances) [Box Set]
Prokifiev: Symphony No. 5; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 2000
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 1994
Rattle Directs 20th Century Orchestral Masterworks (Box Set) 1993
Ravel: Boléro; Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Russian Masters 1995
Russian Orchestral Masterworks 2000
Rückblick Moderne: 20th Century Orchestral Music [Box Set] 1999
Schubert: Symphony in C; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 2001
Selections from the National Tour
Serge Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps
Sergei Prokofiev: Scythian Suite, Op. 20; Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring 1991
Sergej Rachmaninoff: Klavierkonzert No. 2; Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 1998
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 / Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring 1993
Stavinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Mussorgsky: Bilder einer Ausstellung
Stravinski: Le sacre du printemps; Le roi des étoiles; Petrouchka 2005
Stravinski: Pétrouchka; Le Sacre du Printemps 2006
Stravinsky 125th Anniversary Album 2007
Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky
Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky
Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky [SACD] 1999
Stravinsky [Box Set] 2009
Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky
Stravinsky, Prokofiev: Orchestral Works 1992
Stravinsky, Shostakovich: Bernstein's Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon [Box Set] 2005
Stravinsky: Apollo; Le Sacre du printemps 1989
Stravinsky: Ballets 1994
Stravinsky: Ballets 2001
Stravinsky: Ballets, Vol. 1 1991
Stravinsky: Ballets; Stage Works; Orchestral Works [Box Set] 2001
Stravinsky: Firebird; Rite of Spring
Stravinsky: Firebird; The Rite of Spring 1997
Stravinsky: L'oiseau de feu; Le sacre du printemps [Hybrid SACD] 2008
Stravinsky: La Sacre du Printemps/Le chant du Rossignol
Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps 1997
Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps 1997
Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps, etc. 2001
Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps/Petrouchka 1987
Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps/Petrushka 1993
Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps/Pétrouchka 1997
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 1982
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 1990
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 1991
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 1974
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps 1987
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps [Hybrid SACD] 2007
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; L'Oiseau de feu 1999
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Perséphone 1992
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Petrouchka
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Petruchka; Firebird; Apollon Musagete
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Petrushka
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet [Excerpts] 1992
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Pétrouchka; L'Oiseau de fue; Pulcinella
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Symphony in Three Movements 1990
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps/L'Oiseau de feu/Jeu de cartes/Petrouchka/Pulcinella
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps; Bartók: Konzert für Orchester 2007
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps; Debussy: La mer; Boulez: Notations VII 2001
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps; Petrouchka; Le chante du rossignol; etc. 2001
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps; Violin Concerto; Bartók: Divertimento for String Orchestra 2007
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Baiser de la fée; Firebird Suite 1993
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Bartok: Sonata for pianos Sz110
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Chants du Rossignol et Marche Chinoise
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Chants du Rossignol et Marche Chinoise
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Circus Polka; Dumbarton Oaks
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Falla: Nuits dans les jardins d'Éspagne 1999
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Fireworks; The Firebird Suite 1991
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Haydn: Schöpfung No2 1993
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Jeu de cartes
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Jeu de cartes 1991
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; L'Oiseau de feu; Perséphone 1999
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; L'oiseau de feu No3
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Petrushka 1988
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Petrushka
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Petrushka
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Petrushka
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Petrushka
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Petrushka
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Petrushka 1993
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Petrushka; Fireworks 1999
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Pétrouchka 2004
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Pétrouchka 1994
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances 1997
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Skryabin: Symphony No4 1988
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Symphonies of Wind Instruments
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Tchaikovsky: Fantasie-Overture "Romeo and Juliet"; Britten: The Young Person's Gui 2002
Stravinsky: Petrouchka (Complete); Le Sacre du Printemps 1993
Stravinsky: Petrouchka; Le Sacre de printemps
Stravinsky: Petrouchka; The Rite of Spring 2008
Stravinsky: Petrushka / Rite of Spring 2001
Stravinsky: Petrushka; Le Sacre du Printemps 2002
Stravinsky: Petrushka; The Rite of Spring 2004
Stravinsky: Petrushka; The Rite of Spring 1997
Stravinsky: Pétrouchka; Le Sacre du Printemps 1994
Stravinsky: Rite Of Spring; Petrushka
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring / Firebird Suite 2001
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring; Britten: Four Sea Interludes, etc. 1994
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring; Firebird
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring; Jeu de Cartes 2003
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms; The Rite of Spring 1988
Stravinsky: The Ballets [Box Set] 2009
Stravinsky: The Firebird (Suite); Le Sacre du Printemps
Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite; The Rite of Spring; Pátrouchka; Symphony in Three Movements 1987
Stravinsky: The Firebird; Petrushka; The Rite of Spring 2006
Stravinsky: The Firebird; Rite of Spring; Petrouchka; Scherzo fantastique 1997
Stravinsky: The Firebird; The Rite of Spring 2002
Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring/Pulcinella 1992
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring 2004
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring & Petrushka 2000
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring / Petrouchka
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring / The Firebird Suite 1999
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring: Symphony in Three Movements 2001
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring: The Nightingale 2005
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Apollon Musagète 1995
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Apollon Musagète 1996
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Berg: Chamber Concerto 1992
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Card Game; Concerto in D major 1995
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Firebird 2003
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Fireworks; Circus Polka; Greeting Prelude "Happy Birthday" 1999
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Nielsen: Symphony No. 5 2004
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Nielsen; Symphony No. 5 [Hybrid SACD] 2004
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Petrouchka 2000
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Petrouchka 2002
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Petrushka
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Petrushka; The Firebird; Apollo 2008
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Requiem Cantciles; Canticum Sacrum 1995
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy 2001
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 [Hybrid SACD] 2001
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; The Firebird 2004
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; The Firebird
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; The Firebird Suite (1919) 2004
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; the Firebird Suite
Stravinsky: Two Ballets 1996
Strawinsky: Le Sacre Duprintemps/Markevitch: Psaume
Strawinsky: Petrouchka; Le sacre du printemps (Ballets complets) 2007
Strawinsky: Scènes de ballet; L'Oiseau de fue - Suite; Le Sacre du printemps
The Art of Charles Dutoit [Bonus DVD] [Box Set] 2006
The Artistry of Eduard van Beinum
The Basic STRAVINSKY
The Best of Stravinsky 1995
The Essential Stravinsky 2002
The Music of Stravinsky 2000
The Original Jacket Collection: Leonard Bernstein 2001
The Prague Spring Festival: Legendary Broadcast Recordings (1947-1968) 2005
The Rite of Spring 1999
Top 20th Century Classics 1999
Ultimate Ballet: The Essential Masterpieces [Box Set] 2007
Ultimate Russian Classics: The Essential Masterpieces 2009
Works of Igor Stravinsky [Box Set] 2007
Zander: 20th Anniversary Edition (Box Set)
Zubin Mehta: A Seventieth Birthday Tribute [Box Set] 2006
Albums with Excerpt Performances of the Work
100 Best Classics, Vol. 2 2006
25 Thunderous Classics 2000
300 Years of Classical 1995
300 Years of the Classics 1995
40 Most Beautiful Spring Classics 2008
50 Years of Hungaroton: Conductors
500 Classic Masterpieces [Box Set] 1992
6-CD Set to Accompany "Listening to Music" (Second Edition) [Box Set] 1996
A Total Embrace: The Conductor 2003
An Introduction to Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" 2003
Bernstein: Reaching for the Note 1998
Best Ballet 100 2008
Best Of Stravinsky 1997
Classical Masterpieces (Box Set) 1998
Classical Music Start-Up Kit, Vol. 2: 1825-1945 1993
Classical Music for Dummies
Classical Sampler 1987
Classically Romantic 1996
Classics In Steel 1999
Concert in the Park: A Festival of Beautiful Music 1996
D'un siècle à l'autre (From One Century to the Next) 2000
Discover Your Genius 2002
Engineer's Choice, Vol. 2 1997
Exile On Classical Street 1996
Extreme Classics 1995
Fantasia
Fantasia [Naxos] 1997
Fantasia's Greatest Hits 1990
Fortissimo!: The World's Loudest Classical Music 1994
Gramophone Editor's Choice, April 1999 1999
Gramophone Editor's Choice, March 2000 2000
Gramophone Editor's Choice, November 2001 2001
Great Nature Classics 2000
Great Piano Transcriptions
Greatest Hits - Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, Stravinsky 1995
Greatest Hits of the Ballet, Vol. 2 1990
Greatest Hits: Ballet 1995
Heavy Classix, Vol. 2 1994
History of Classical Music 1999
Hollywood Bowl Concert (1928) 2004
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci 2000
Igor Stravinsky: A Portrait 2008
Igor Stravinsky: Petrouchka/The Rite Of Spring 1989
Igor Stravinsky: Petrushka/The Rite of Spring 1993
In Classical Mood: Forces of Nature 1996
Jurassic Classics 1993
La Musique Au Temps De Picasso 1996
Lease Breakers 1996
Listen (Sixth Edition) 2006
Listen (Sixth Edition) [Abridged Version] 2006
Mad about the Orchestra 1993
Monteux, Vol. 2
Moonlight Serenades 1998
Most Frightening Music in the Universe 2004
Music of Cosmos 1990
Music: The Art of Listening [7th Edition] 2006
Musical Moods, Vol. 1 1999
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Vol. 2 [Box Set] 1996
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Vol. 2: Classic to Twentieth Century [Box Set] 2006
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Vol. 3: Twentieth Century 2010
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music: Concise Version 2010
Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music: Concise Version [Box Set] 2006
Opera Then and Now
Orchestra! 1991
Orchestral Excerpts for Bassoon 1994
Orchestral Excerpts for English Horn 2001
Piano by Candlelight Favorites 1996
Ram Dam: Les titres les plus explosifs de la musique 2002
Roger Kamien's Music: An Appreciation [Seventh Edition] 2000
Roger Kamien: Music - An Appreciation [5-CD Set to Accompany the 9th Edition and the 6th Brief Edition] 2008
Russia: Across Steppes 1995
Sony Classical: Great Performances 1903-1998 1999
Spring Classics 1998
Spring: A Collection of Seasonal Classics 2006
Stravinksy: The Rite Of Spring
Stravinksy: The Rite Of Spring/Pulcinella Suite 1992
Stravinsky For Dummies
Stravinsky's Greatest Hits 1990
Stravinsky: Greatest Hits 1994
Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite/The Rite Of Spring 1987
Telarc Collection, Vol. 6 1992
Telarc Sampler, Vol. 2 1984
The Art of Bernard Haitink [Box Set] 2009
The Best Thunderous Classics 2007
The Best Thunderous Classics [Best Buy Exclusive] 2005
The Best of Stravinsky 1998
The Classic 100 [Box Set] 2008
The Classic 100, Vol. 2 2008
The Essential Igor Stravinsky 2003
The Four Seasons 2006
The HMV Classics Collection: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter 1994
The Instruments of the Orchestra [Box Set] 2002
The Joy Of Bernstein 1994
The Legend of the Orchestra 2009
The Most Unforgettable Russian Classics Ever 2000
The Norton Scores & The Enjoyment of Music, Vol. 2: Schubert to the Present 2007
The Norton Scores & The Enjoyment of Music: Shorter Version 2007
The Rite of Spring 1993
The Rites of Spring 1998
The Simon Rattle Selection
The Telarc Collection, Vol. 8: The Artistry Of Yoel Levi 1993
The Ultimate 2001 Album 2001
The Wonderful World of Classical Music (Box Set)
Time Life Presents: Classical Thunder 2005
To The Edge Of Dream 1993
Toon Time: Classical Music from Classic Cartoons 2008
Tunes for Workout 1996
Ultimate Classic Performances 2003
Ultimate Classical: 50 Classical Performances 2002
Work Out: Music of Energy and Power 1998
Y2K: A Doomsday Collection for the Coming Crash 1999
Your Favourite Classics 1995
