20th Century
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) The Rite of Spring (1913)
- Russian Composer
- life encompasses most of 20th Century
- Lived in France, then moved to the US
- 3 Grammy Awards in his lifetime, 1 posthumous Grammy
- A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!!
-- Written for a ballet about the energy of the spring season.
-- Extremely controversial at the time. At the premiere of the ballet, when this piece of music was played for the first time in public, the audience broke into a near riot. The newspaper derided the music mercilessly. WHY do you think people thought this music was outrageous? Why was this unacceptable? (hint: Think about all the musical elements... what were people used to hearing at the time?)
The video excerpt below actually shows you the orchestral score! The part that you are familiar with starts at 0:40. |
Answer: Unusual Harmonies; Accents were in the "wrong" places.