The Power of Rhythm

How the use of percussive elements in Stravinsky’s writing transformed modern classical music.

In The Rite of Spring, the ballet composed by Stravinsky, listeners are confronted with overwhelming polyrhythms, an extremely important invention that has led to modern classical music. This piece was the single most important musical shock to drive rhythm into the forefront of the classical music vanguard. This isn’t to say that the melodies in this piece are lacking, in fact, the chord structure — though extremely dissonant for 1913 — actually follows rather simple and melodic Lithuanian folk lines (Walsh 1988), though employing a highly irregular octatonic scale which contributes to the atonal quality of the harmonies. (For those of you who need the details: / H / W / H / W / H / W / H / W /.) This new spotlight on rhythm shaped modern classical music forever, influencing composers such as Varèse, Boulez, Bartók, and Ligeti (Benjamin 13).

The date of the premiere has come to be perhaps the most famous opening-night scandal in history. Stravinsky took the orchestra, something associated with high society and culture, and to those listening, lowered it to a carnal, bestial, and earthy level. Its savage violence confronted head-on the aesthetics of impressionism, which were in favor at that time. He employed cubist-like music, using sharp edges to contrast the diluted strokes of the current Parisian musical fashion. Notably, and not surprisingly, this explosive movement was not at all appreciated by the crowd, resulting in the famous Paris riots after the premiere (Toor 2013). Stravinsky’s most powerful weapon, against convention, was his use of rhythm; which he used to pound and batter the audience. They were provoked as they were all used to the curved flexibility of the romantic era.

The Rite of Spring is a two act ballet portraying a primitive Russian tribe’s primitive culture and society. Through processions of maidens, elders, a century-old female diviner, a Sage, and the “Chosen One”, (who is plucked from the young women), we watch her dance to death for the sake of communal continuity (Beales 1969). Stravinsky was tasked with the creation of a score that would parallel the primeval story but also would instantiate an emotional connection with the audience. In doing so, he inadvertently brought out the primitive instincts of the audience, causing them to jeer and boo, eventually provoking them to uproar. The music begins with a beautiful bassoon and oboe duet that grounds it in purer tones but quickly we can feel the primitive aspect of the piece, with quick flute rolls and high clarinet squeals painting Picasso-like representations of a huge, untouched landscape where nothing was tamed and only a few tribal people gathered to revere their relationship to the earth.

“I was guided by no system whatever in Le Sacre du printemps. When I think of the other composers of that time who interest me — Berg, who is synthetic (in the best sense), Webern, who is analytic, and Schoenberg, who is both — how much more theoretical their music seems than Le Sacre; and these composers were supported by a great tradition, whereas very little immediate tradition lies behind Le Sacre du printemps. I had only my ear to help me. I heard and I wrote what I heard. I am the vessel through which Le Sacre passed.” Igor Stravinsky (Stravinsky and Craft, p.147–48)

Our modern day challenge is to try to view and understand the shock of this piece when it was first performed. What sort of concert can you think of that would lead to riots about the music? It would be extraordinary for such an incident to be replicated at a concert today, especially that of an orchestra, but that doesn’t mean that the musicians should acquiesce and rest their playing in only what is comfortable for the audience. It would appear that Stravinsky’s greatest inspirations in writing and producing this piece were to provide a fitting soundtrack to the story as well as to shock the audience. At practice number 18 — around 4 minutes into the piece — the entire string section attacks a chord over and over, playing each note with a down bow leading to an immense spectacle both to listen and regard. In addition to this fury, Stravinsky throws in irregular accents, always when you don’t expect them:

bum bum bum BUM! bum bum BUM! bum bum bum BUM! bum BUM!!!

Stravinsky takes an idea, perhaps even just a measure’s worth, and works it over and over. These ostinatos revolve continuously until their momentum is somehow resolved. Sometimes these repeating motives are quelled by the emergence of a diatonic melody. However, these oases of melody rapidly devolve back into tonal ambiguity. It is these rhythms that undoubtedly shocked the audience and it is the rhythms that still demand our attention. Though ultimately, the rioting probably had as much to do with the dance as with the music, it is important to note that the jeering started during the prelude, even before the curtain went up on the dancers.

Percussion, as in all music, is employed both through the familiar and the unexpected. Used correctly, both can be beautiful. Stravinsky builds structure through intense repetition, gathering steam until that conception suddenly jumps into a new domain, or it simply falls off into a new melodic stream. In the later, more aggressive movements the motif usually continues, or at least is maintained in some way, to build momentum again, getting thicker as new layers and fragments are rolled into the churning chaos. Eventually this percussive avalanche reaches a breaking point, and explodes into a new development. These transitional devices (which were unheard of at the time) rely on the destruction and creation of pulse, as the music jumps from keen solos to torrential maelstroms. The second movement of part two “The Augurs of Spring” is an example of how layers are added and are built until coming to a close with a purely rhythmic cadence.

In the early run-throughs of the score, as Stravinsky was figuring it out on piano, Sergei Diaghilev (founder of the Ballets Russes) is said to have asked the composer how long would it go on “this way.” In return, Stravinsky is said to have smiled and replied, (Mangan 2013)

“Till the end, my dear.”

As explosive and dynamic of an ending the Rite may present in itself, the impact it caused was equally powerful. Through the jarring and powerful rhythms unlike any had attempted before, Stravinsky was able to convey a new emotional relationship with the performance. This emotional connection is what defines the Rite. Stravinsky’s desire to defy, to shock, and above all his desire to embrace his artistic vision.

Bibliography:

Mangan, Timothy. “‘Rite of Spring’: A Rule-changing Musical Masterpiece.” The Orange County Register. Digital First Media, 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

Benjamin, George. “How Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring Has Shaped 100 Years of Music.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 29 May 2013. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

McCulloch, Keith. “Analysis of The Rite of Spring.” Analysis of The Rite of Spring. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

Simon, Scott. “The Primitive Pulse of Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’” NPR. NPR, 24 Mar. 2007. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

“Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.” PBS. PBS, 2009. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

Russian, Thomas May. “The Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky.” Articulate Silences. Tacet, 11 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

Green, Edward. “On the Rhythm of Igor Stravinsky’s Great ‘The Rite of Spring’” On the Rhythm of Igor Stravinsky’s Great ‘The Rite of Spring’ N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

Walsh, Stephen. The Music of Igor Stravinsky. Oxford: Clarendon P, 1988

Toor, Amar. “100 Years Ago Today, ‘The Rite of Spring’ Incited a Riot in a Paris Theater.” The Verge. Vox Media, 29 May 2013. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

Beales, John W. “The Rite of Spring.” The Rite of Spring. Ballet Encyclopedia, 29 Dec. 1969. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.