One Hundred Ten Years of Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring

On this day 110 years ago the 30 year-old composer, Igor Stravinsky, made music history in Paris. The event was the premiere of the ballet Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) in Paris. Like his earlier work for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, it was experimental and revolutionary. When combined with primitive choreography and a human sacrifice theme some in the audience were dazzled while others were infuriated to the point of riot.

Photo from 1913 showing original costumes

In the early 1980's the choreography was meticulously reconstructed after being lost for almost six decades. A few years after its completion it was presented by the Joffre Ballet. On the centennial of its premiere (May 29,2013) the ballet was presented in its original location, Theatre du Champs-Elysees, using the reconstructed choreography and costuming. Here is the complete performance for your enjoyment, maybe even astonishment given that this sound - and movement for those who appreciate dance - is over a century old.

Stravinsky's early imaginative compositions, including The Firebird and Petrouchka, went on to have a huge impact on music and the arts. At the forefront stands The Rite of Spring as one of the most widely recorded and performed symphonic works in the world. It remains as fresh in 2023 as it was in 1913. In that century its innovative energy in sound and rhythm has been re-patterned by the likes of Charles Ives, Aaron Copeland, Leonard Bernstein, John Williams, Philip Glass, John Adams and many others.

Some say the most productive experiments often make the biggest messes until they are better understood. The genius and madman in Stravinsky would very much agree.




Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
public domain photo from First Nights: Five Musical Premieres by Thomas F. Kelly. Yale University Press, New Haven, 2000.

Text:

Igor Stravinsky entry, wikipedia.org