Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring (REACTION//DISCUSSION)
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- čas přidán 19. 11. 2021
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Song Link: • Stravinsky The Rite of...
Program PDF: lso.co.uk/images/pdf/21-Sep-1... - Hudba
Back in 1913 or so, this piece was very controversial. It scared listeners who were not expecting dissonance and the heavy rhythms. Little old ladies were actually fainting and had to be carried out and the Pope decided that no one should play this song in public. Friends of mine in a band used to play Larks Tongue in Aspic by King Crimson, and would insert the heavy Stravinsky beats into the middle of Larks Tongue. Thanks JP.
The controversy was not so much about the music but about the original choreography. Shortly after the ballet premiere the music was played as a concert piece to great acclaim.
This piece is probably the most notorious scandal in the history of music, yes. But it was not because of the music itself, lot of composers were writing heavy, dissonant music before Stravinsky. It was mainly because of the ballet. It's the Nijinsky’s choreography. Stravinsky described the dancers as a row of “knock-kneed and long-braided Lolitas jumping up and down” who jerked rather than danced. Anyway I think this piece is vastly overrated. I like Prokofiev's ballets way more than Stravinsky's.
Dude you're making shit up, the pope didn't issue anything about it lol
@@dcytol Your right, but it is great to expose this piece of music to young people!
@@dcytol unfortunately, we don't live in a time where orchestral music (or music in general) is being taught. People are not brought up in this culture and dont understand the difference between a "movement" or a "Song".
Most musicians have a love-hate relationship with Stravinski. They absolutely love his music, dread playing it, hate actually doing it, and when they finish performing it they collectively say, "my God, I can't believe I did that" and leave smiling
What's funny is how this music used to be one of the greatest challenges in the classical repertoire. But now you find youth orchestras playing it.
It does look like a demanding workout for an orchestra.
Finally classical music reactions!!!! I wish more CZcams channels would do this!
Hope you enjoy!
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee ehhh not buying that… this channel mostly reactions to progressive rock.,, not the most commercial or hook driven music so….. yeah.
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee If there's any piece that works with "first-time reaction" it's Rite of Spring
@@JustJP To get the full effect of this ballet, you need to watch it played with the original choreography, because it was just as revolutionary as the music. The Joffrey Ballet did the best job in reconstructing it: part 1: czcams.com/video/jF1OQkHybEQ/video.html part 2: czcams.com/video/iH1t0pCchxM/video.html part 3: czcams.com/video/C_7ndqgwxcM/video.html
When I was a young kid (around 1960, I think) my parents took me to my first movie. It was Disney's Fantasia (1940) which was shown in theaters usually around the holidays. For those not familiar, it was disney animations put to classical music. Rite of spring was one of the memorable parts, depicting life rising on prehistoric earth, death of the dinosaurs, etc. The impact on a kid;s mind was amazing. Both in terms of a bit of education & introduction to a type of music not "normal" even for a kid 60 years ago.
Same for me few years after you
I saw it first on LSD3D in 75. Quite a memorable mind-blowing experience
That's interesting, because the Rite of Spring was never written for that story, but it's fascinating how the music can be used to tell different stories
@@TheTrueAltoClef I think they changed the story so they could market it for kids.
I saw that in the theater. The early 60s.
The sorcerer’s apprentice flipped some switch in my head until I was late teens if I had a fever I would play it out. The water would get over my head and my fever broke.
"That the first performance of [it] was attended by a scandal must be known to everybody. I was unprepared for the explosion myself. The reactions of the musicians who came to the orchestra rehearsals betrayed no intimation of it. (Debussy, who might well have been upset by Le Sacre, was, in fact, much more upset by the success of it a year later.)....At the performance, mild protests against the music could be heard from the beginning. Then, when the curtain opened, a group of knock-kneed and long-braided Lolitas jumping up and down (Danse des adolescentes), the storm broke. Cries of "ta gueule" came from behind me. I left the hall in a rage...I have never been that angry. The music was so familiar to me; I loved it, and I could not understand why people who had not yet heard it wanted to protest in advance. I arrived backstage in a fury. There I saw Diaghilev switching the house lights on and off in the hope that this might quiet the hall. For the rest of the performance I stood in the wings behind Nijinksky holding the tails of his frac, while he stood on a chair shouting numbers to the dancers, like a coxswain. I was guided by no system whatever in Le Sacre du Printemps. When I think of the music of the other composers of that time who interest me--Berg's music, which is synthetic (in the best sense), and Webern's, which is analytic--how much more theoretical it seems than Le Sacre. And these composers belonged to and were supported by a great tradition. Very little immediate tradition lies behind Le Sacre du Printemps, however, and no theory. 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." - Stravinsky on "The Rite of Spring"
what amazes me is that some guy .... from his head ... had each note , for 50ish separate instruments , and had to wright that down on a piece of paper
31:04 It took a few centuries, but french horns were invented for this moment.
I have performed the Rite of Spring twice as a horn player. The amount of both laser beam focus and energy needed for this work is almost unimaginable. Your reaction was very thoughtful and spot on. The relation to Prog is unmistakable, and we can hear the heaviness and fury that inspired heavy metal .
Thats awesome Craig, I can imagine the focus needed!
A classical music reaction. Wow! Well then, let me recommend a most interesting piece for you to react to. It is also by Stravinsky. It's called The Firebird (or The Firebird Suite). There is a live performance on CZcams that's over 47 minutes long, though there's shorter versions too. However, the reason I'm recommending it is because whenever YES opened their concerts they would play the last part of it, which is about 3 minutes long, as they'd come out on stage to the cheers of everyone. It's how we all knew that the concert was beginning. The last 3 minutes is the best part, but maybe I feel that way because when the orchestra finally got to that part, I thought YES was coming out next 😎
and composer of The Firebird Suite which Yes used a snippet of to open their shows
@@stephaniethurmer5370 I just said that, you goofy girl, lol 😛😃
@@Lightmane just seeing if you are on your toes.
@@stephaniethurmer5370 😄
Yep, they played when I saw them on the Topographic Oceans tour, that must be what seems like 100 years ago 😀
The ending of "Rite of Spring" always remind me of the Disney film, where the dinosaurs are marching into the tar pits.
"Nijinsky, standing in the wings, white with rage, beating out the rhythms for the dancers with his fists…" yeah, the premiere was one hell of a thing. I understand that by the ending it was SO powerful and overwhelming that they'd more or less won the audience over. But talk about an experience (either to perform, or to hear this exist in the concert hall for the first time). Even the choreography was just as unconventional :)
It's amazing how much inspiration film scores took from Rite of Spring! John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Alexander Courage, Basil Poledouris... I can hear Stravinsky in all of them!
Glad to know I’m not the only who thinks the bass player gives of MC energy 😂😂
🤭
When this was first performed in Paris on May 29th 1913 fistfights broke out in the audience between people who liked it and those who didn't. "Young men roared like lions" (this line is from a newspaper article that came out after the premiere). It was one of the biggest scandals in music history.
In 1978 my mom took my brother and I to see this performed by the Boston Pops (summer symphony) at Tanglewood, a fancy outdoor venue where people set up tea tables and such. At the end of the performance there was a thunderous storm and lightning strikes seemed to be timed to the most climactic moments. It was exhilarating in every imaginable way.
It might have been at Tanglewood but it would have been the Boston Symphony, not the Pops, this is NOT lightweight music Mr. Fiedler would have been conducting. The personnel at the time was largely the same but a totally different subscription.
@@davidmdyer838 I’m sure your recall is way better. I was 14 and was there once so I thought Symphony Hall closed for the summer and they renamed themselves The Boston Pops when they went over to the Berkshires. One thing I recall most clearly was the dark clouds rolling in, the timing of the lightning crashing was so on cue with the amazing music as a backdrop then being completely soaked. The Tea People took the worst of it since the brought in the most stuff. I remember the awesomeness of white linen tablecloths flying through the air.
@@stephenpesta1550 I had a similar experience seeing the pera Peter Grimes at Santa Fe which is an covered but outdoor venue. There is a storm scene and a real storm perfectly coordinated with the stage scene. I found out later that they had checked the weather and deliberately extended intermissioin so this would work out.
One of my very favourite pieces of music! This is complex music on many levels, using cells and components of rhythm, harmony and tonal relationships to build a vast structure. It was a modernist shock at the time, in 1913. And should be considered along with lots of other cultural shocks happening at similar time in similar locations. Stravinsky had relocated to Paris, France from his native Russia. Russia was in flux. Europe was in political and social flux. This was written for Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, a dance company based in Paris. Igor Stravinsky had already composed "The Firebird" and "Petrushka" as ballets for the company. Other composers who worked for the company included Maurice Ravel and Erik Satie. When Stravinsky wrote this score, he wrote a version for two pianos, without all the orchestration. He played through that version with his friend, composer Claude Debussy, who didn't really know what to make of it at the time. This is close to the time when Pablo Picasso (who was friendly with Stravinsky) developed cubist painting, along with a couple of friends/colleagues, Georges Braque and Juan Gris. A kind of modernist 'primitivism' was emerging. And "The Rite of Spring" fit that artistic movement, being both modern and mechanistic, and primitively ritualistic. The original choreography was made by star dancer Vaslav Nijinksy (you can find reconstructions of it on CZcams), and when the ballet premiered the audience rioted and tore up the theatre, making it a huge scandal. When the music was presented without the ballet a year or two later, it was a great success in concert, and has remained a favourite, though was long considered very challenging to play. And other choreographers have created dance to this music. I've really enjoyed versions by Maurice Bejart, Martha Graham, as well as Pina Bausch.
Keep in mind that World War I started in 1914, the year after the premiere of "The Rite". Stravinsky was forced to move to Switzerland, and there was general social upheaval. Aircraft were used in that war for the first time in a major way. The modern age of modern warfare began, social mores began to change. And modern art in all disciplines gradually became quite avant garde, while still popular. And jazz emerged as a popular form of music in the decades to come, even influencing Stravinsky. Sometime you could listen to his "Ragtime", or his "Ebony Concerto" written for jazz clarinetist Woody Herman. And there is a famous anecdote about Stravinsky going to hear Charlie Parker play in a club in New York. Parker introduced elements from "The Rite of Spring" into his improvising on a jazz standard, causing Stravinsky to laugh in surprise and spill his drink on his friends.
And you're right about the influence of this and other classics on the musicians of prog rock and jazz, as well as other Classical composers.
Do you want any suggestions of other pieces of Classical music to listen to and discuss? There are at least three centuries worth of great works to consider.
The audience in 1913 also saw the ballet, which was truly shocking for its time. The weird sounds and complicated rhythms were combined with the genius yet very primitive choreography by Nijinsky, with dancers wearing 'pagan' clothing. Imagine the audience watching a young girl sacrificing her life to Mother Earth for the sake of a good harvest. I always close my eyes during that last part and see that happen. Very dramatic. Very powerful.
AMAZNG!!!! Stravinsky is my favorite classical music composer. When they performed this for the first time, they had people counting out to keep the dancers in sync due to all the odd time signature changes. It was not well received...but today, is considered a classic!!! Thanks you JP for always doing something different. Love this channel!!!
PS - Great idea to show the orchestra! Gives the listener a new insight as to the intensity of this piece.
You can watch what is probably the closest we have to the original ballet here: czcams.com/video/jo4sf2wT0wU/video.html
I see you trying to predict the rhythmic accents lol. It's not possible without the score in front of you.
And don't forget the riot it caused.
When a painter finishes a painting, the art is complete. Everytime an orchestral piece is performed, the art must be recreated by the orchestra. It is the conductor's job to ensure everyone is creating the same work of art. A monumental task when you have over a hundred performers struggling to master a piece of immense technical difficulty.
Thats a great way of putting it Rich!
I first saw this as a ballet. The use of strings, brass and woodwinds as percusion was shocking. It got me to listen to "The Firebird" from an LP. Wow! Firebird still blows my mind, so I hope you add Stravinski's 'Firebird' to your reaction schedule.
I was introduced to the Firebird Suite in fourth grade and I've loved it ever since (I'm in my 60s now).
Ah, Igor Stravinsky - the king of the jack move. There are (subconsciously or not) a lot of bits and snippets of Russian and other Baltic folk melodies woven throughout this piece, especially in the intro. Then again, this was the guy who coined the famous saying, "Good artists borrow - the great artists steal!"
Stravinsky - what a switch! I really like his ballets, but mostly listen to his chamber and symphonic works (especially at the office). "Dumbarton Oaks" is very much a pleasant listen - some nice surprises in that one. And my favorite symphony is "Symphony in C" - kind of a mix between Beethoven and Bernard Hermann.
No joke.
I really want to suggest Bernard Herrmann conducting his only Symphony with the NPO. I think it's a stunning highly underrated piece.
Nijinsky’s choreography is horrific and haunting- I love it! The 100th anniversary performance with a reconstruction of the costumes and his choreography is available on CZcams- if you see something watermarked ARTE you’ll find it! In the 1980s the Joffrey Ballet reconstructed the choreography, and this was the choreography mirrored in the centennial performance! Hope you enjoy if you decide to see the ballet!
Thanks so much Diana! I'll be on the look out for it :D
An iconic and epic piece and an outstanding reaction! You indicate that you are not versed in classical music yet your reaction and insights do far more to help newcomers understand the Rite than many academic analyses Ive seen. Well done! More classical reactions please.
Thank you so much for that Thomas :)
YES! Close to the Edge!!? Aaaaand Stravinsky? I must declare you a very intelligent and magnificent influence in life! Cheers, mate! 👍By the way, Jon Anderson thought of Stravinsky as a great source of inspiration and he's a fan of Jacob Collier. But you knew that of course. 👋
An awe-inspiring video and piece! Thanks!
You probably already know "Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, but it would be awesome to have such an iconic piece on your channel. Most people know the famous section in the movies and in commercials but are unaware how incredible the rest of the piece truly is. The Bernstein version is glorious.
Rhapsody in Blue is my favorite symphonic piece. If Justin does know it, I would love to recommend he give a listen to the recent version by Liquid Tension Experiment. Absolutely brilliant rendition done in the progression rock tradition.
@@IllumeEltanin I agree, it's a very good rendition. I still like the Bernstein version better.
Rhapsody in Blue is one of the greatest compositions of the 20th century. Not that I'm biased or anything....
wooooooow I didn't know this could be happening.
fav piece.
Telling a story with music. Igor rocks. He was one of the first prog rockers! Tell me Tony Banks (and a lot of rockers) didn't listen to this. Take it down, build it up, create moods, crash with crazy rhythms. What an amazing piece written just before WW1. Can you imagine playing this, much less putting it all on paper. Disturbing, mysterious, jarring dissonance, strangely beautiful. Genius.
Another great classical / orchestral work is Mussorgsky's 'Pictures from an Exhibition' - the Ravel orchestration. A lot of ELP's interpretation came from this.
thank you for keeping classical music in the conversation. nobody needs to Know about it (but it helps). Lenny would be pleased.
Watching you try to predict the hits in the Sacrificial Dance, expecting there to be a pattern was such a delight. Ive listened to this piece over a hundred times and only NOW Ive finally memorized how it goes. Its so funny.
Also! If you are interested in seeing the ballet that accompanied it, I highly recommend this video I will link. It also contains a short, ~20 minute documentary on how this ballet was reconstructed, because the original choreography was lost for over 50 years. Its very interesting. But if not, you can skip to the beginning of the ballet itself around 28 minutes in: czcams.com/video/l8TQH-5Vrhk/video.html
Enjoy :)
This is simply one of the most influential pieces of music in the 20th century. The prog band The Tangent have done an adaption called "Le Massacre du Printemps" that is also worth listening.
This is a whole different class of musicianship here. Every member of the London Symphony Orchestra is a world-class professional from the likes of Juliard and various conservatories around the world. They don't even have to all speak the same language. Sheet music is universal to all musicians. Everything you hear: every dynamic, every crescendo, key change, time signature, even the way the strings are plucked... are all written and annotated on the sheet music by the composer for every instrument. Each player has their own part. The conductor has the score, which contains all the parts in one volume. The annotations are all Italian and abbreviated. pp = pianissimo (very softly). p = piano (softly). mf = mezzo forte (medium loud). f = forte (loudly). ff = fortissimo (with great force) There are symbols that mean various things like the coda. Sometimes you will see numbers above the staff which indicate which fingers to use, etc... It's a whole different language in itself. Unfortunately, musicians of this level are becoming more of a rarity and it's heartbreaking. I think you would enjoy the Danish National Symphony. They perform a lot of movie scores. It's cool to see what's actually going on when you hear familiar music like the star wars theme.
Please look at Keith Emerson's Piano Concerto, it's on an ELP album. It's a very varied work.
My favorite part is the opening section with the bassoons playing in the higher register...very nice & cool of Igor to give the double reeds some love.
JP, thankyou tor dipping your toe into classical. If you never do another one, your must, you've just got to listen to Lark ascending by Vaughan Williams, it will take your breath away, so moving and powerful. It will stay with you forever, I promise you, a pure paradise
I LOVE "Lark Ascending". Try the utube version featuring Janine Jansen performing at the "Proms" several years ago.
I remember 'finding' this piece in my Uncle's record library. I started listening to it and was captivated. When called to dinner it was all I could do to come to the table. From then I was hooked on classical music. In 2000 I had a privilege to vacation in Paris where I and a group of friends went to see the symphonic orchestra play this as a ballet. But not a standard ballet, but a horse ballet. I can not capture the thrill and fear seeing these huge animals and the dancers racing to and fro with this wild music playing. Mind blowing!
Epic. Glad you decided to check this one out. Alongside the music of Bela Bartok, this piece of music was among the things that introduced more rhythmical/primitivist elements to "contemporary" 19th century art music. Also, the bitonality was really cutting edge and this piece was in many ways a bit too ahead of the time when it was introduced, It was bashed and ridiculed in the concert halls when it first premiered, but was also praised afterwards as Genius by none other then Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel which was also there at the premier. Neither the nationalists, nor later the Bolsheviks had any liking for it of course, and Stravinsky did later not have an easy time in the soviet union, leading to him moving to the U.S, where one could express ones artistic endeavors more freely, without having to fear the risk of persecution for not conforming to Stalins "Socialist Realism", which was the only artistic/or literary movement that the state approved of at the time. It did what great music often do, provoke the conformist establishment and authoritarians! :)
You should try some Shotakovich. Its kind of like the heavier elements of this more, and with more percussion. Try 10th Symphony 2nd movement, its only 4 minutes long.
Try the entire symphony, Gustavo Dudamel's youth orchestra version. It's fantastic!
Symphony 4 or 8.
A great, and brave choice this, re dipping back into classical. Not the easiest piece, and good idea watching the orchestra while listening, adds a depth, and understanding to the experience. I.S, one of Russia's greatest, though I lean more to Prokofiev, has written a quite profound piece, and certainly puts you through the musical ringer. Glad you enjoyed it. If you're to pursue classical, particularly ballet, i'd recommend: Prokofiev's 'Romeo and Juliet. Delibes 'Coppelia'. Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake', and 'The Nutcracker'. The Nutcracker's very apt at this time, it's become synonymous with Christmas. Away from ballet, pretty much anything by JS Bach and GF Handel. Beethoven's Ode to Joy, and Pastoral Symphonie, to name but two.
As you say, there's just so much out there. And my picks, all very well known, may seem a little cliched. But if you've little knowledge, experience in this arena, on listening, you'll realise really quickly exactly why they are so well known. These guys, geniuses all. And we can always get onto the more obscure stuff later :)
You just listened to the probably most influential piece of music from the 20th century. One of my favorites, together with The Firebird. I’ve only once been at a live performance of it, by the Dutch Concertgebouw Orchestra. I’ll never forget it.
If you want something truly scary, look at the full conductor's score! (I noticed you trying to count meter; "rotsa ruck.") I've loved this work close to my whole life; set a very high bar for everything that followed.
Stravinsky was one of Frank Zappa's favorite composers. Others reactors have noted Zappa's use of "tuplets" in his music and scoring (see "The Black Page"). If you do look at Stravinsky's score for The Rite, you would see where this method of musical communication comes from.
...
(The conductor towels his face ... and ... welcome to Star Wars.)
As you noted in your analysis, one must always remember that this was originally composed and performed as a ballet. To mixed reviews.
So wonderful that you made the connection with Prog Rock and classical music! Now you have the start of understanding what "we" feel about this genre.
Hell yeah Rite of Spring!!
This was the first classical piece I saw performed live and I think my little head just about exploded. Talk about diving in head first!
Like the crowd said - BRAVO! More please, JP! Might I suggest Bach's third Brandenburg Concento? 👍🏼❤️
I suggested 5, but 3 is a good start. Ian Anderson sort of borrowed the opening theme for Tull’s ‘To cry you a song’.
Thanks for this reaction. You picked a good piece. What is mind blowing is this is a ballet! I enjoyed this orchestral performance, but you really need to watch the ballet to get the full impact of the piece. Also, You will dig the Walt Disney Fantasia portrayal. It’s full of dinosaurs and volcanos and shit. ;)
Ty Jerry! Definitely sounds like a visual extravaganza!
@@JustJP The original ballet production was performed only 8 times before it was closed and though lost for decades. This video is a reconstruction of the original based on painstaking research including notes and memories of an original dancer. I don’t know if you read much of the history of the first production, but it was renown for causing a riot in Paris at it’s opening. Audience members were not prepared for the jarring rhythms, sonic dissonance, and the frantic motions of the dancers. But, as you already discovered by listening to the orchestral version The Rite of Spring is a masterpiece. And it only gets better and more enjoyable with repeated play. Lastly, this production is in the same theater as the original riot staged 100 years later. If you don’t speak French once the French presenter starts talking, you can skip ahead to 4:00 when the ballet begins. czcams.com/video/YOZmlYgYzG4/video.html
@@JustJP Here is the 1940 Disney production from Fantasia. Rather than a pagan dance, the Disney conception is the creation of the Earth and life itself. czcams.com/video/5Vw-fy-Gfl8/video.html
Always loved Stravinsky. I got to know my contemporary classics via Zappa
Hi, not much percussion shots here. Remember 50 years ago when I first got a listen. Seen CSO perform this. Long hair hippies musicians got stares all over and the lighter thing at the end made our era complete. Great job, check out our prog albums of the 70s. Yezda Urfa is the name, you will not be disappointed. Research the Boris album. Fun stuff, great times. Yes, King Crimson, Happy the Man, Gong, Tull, ELP, Gentle Giant,, would love to hear this music for the first time again. And to hear our band for the first, would be a dream come true. Later,Brad
NICE CHOICE. You might like Gustav Holst's "The Planets" suite if you haven't heard it already.
True story.
My Grand uncle was in Paris studying piano at the Paris conservatory and attended the first performance with his 'friend' one Maurice Ravel,yes that Ravel. Anyhow,he told me of his and the audience's reaction to the music and it was one of total shock much like when Wagner happened back in the day with his music drama style of composing..
According to him the music actually enraged some people to the point hat fights broke out in the audience ! He also told me that Ravel both hated the music and loved it because he was a harmonisation and melody composer and this music went against his grain as a composer but he readily admitted after the performance that 'classical music had changed forever with that one performance and he was right it had changed forever.
Just as an aside I have yet to see an actual ballet of the piece and I fear why because there has never been an outstanding piece of dance yet created to work with the music .
Thats such a great story Eddy! Ty for sharing it
Welcome to the classical world! (University trained composer here) You need to look for conductor Michael Tilson Thomas’s (MTT) documentary called Keeping Score on this piece. Great insight. Still modern 100 years later. Yes, the time signatures change constantly. Stravinsky said he could play it on the piano but had no idea how to notate it at first.
Just watching this, and knowing that your 'get' this challenging piece makes my Ssturday complete. Sounds like Yes turned into a huge musical beast.
But I can still never forget Sir Simon Rattle being upstaged at the Olympics by Mr. Bean's sneezing.
I love this piece. It always shakes me up. Maybe about 10-15 years ago the BBC I think did a drama based on the first performance called "The riot at the Rite". It tells the story of the different people involved and they reconstruct the original performance from notes and drawings made at the time. I don't know if its findable, but worth a look
I liked the 2nd washboard and 3rd kitchen sink. Added so much to this already excellent piece. 😁😂
Fantastic piece of music. Heard it when I was 20. I’m now 70. ☺️
by the way, speaking of progressive rock, the opening track of the live Yes album 'Yessongs' is the finale from Stravinski's 'The Firebird', the second of Stravinski's three great ballet's, the last of which was 'The Rite of Spring'
I love that opening on Yessongs.
Stravinsky's first three great ballets were in order The Firebird (1910), Petrouchka (1911), and Le Sacre du printemps ("The Rite of Spring", 1913). All three were first conceived and performed as ballets by the Ballet Russe in Paris.
The Firebird is much more enjoyable, and shorter.
This piece was written on the eve of the Great War of 1914-1918....one might argue that it was a prelude to the coming 4 years of bloodshed destruction and misery.........strangely still appropriate today.
As @Lightmane and others have done, I was going to suggest the same regarding The Firebird by Stravinsky, although if one can find a video of the ballet with a stellar orchestral performance, the dance and music intertwined makes for an amazing experience.
I love the Finale from The Firebird so much that I used it for my wedding processional rather than using the common Mendelssohn.
As far as The Rite of Spring, I attended a performance of the ballet by Miami City Ballet with The New World Symphony in early 1987 with my Daddy. He passed from lung cancer in April of '87, so it was the last performance he and I attended together. It was a brilliant interpretation, both choreographically and musically. Listening to this score is now bittersweet for me, but it is still much appreciated.
Thanks Justin!
Great orchestras are great for a reason. And the reason is their ability to perform live, with no do overs. And The London Symphony is one of the two or three best in the world. New York and Sydney are pretty good too.
Most orchestras can make a good stab of this but yes it takes a great orchestra for it to come together and be played with precision and emotion. It's why the LSO was an orchestra of choice for many film composers including of course John Williams who knew whatever he wrote the orchestra would be be able to play it right first time which is so important it is very expensive and there is very limited time recording scores. James Horner is another...listen to his Aliens score which the LSO recorded doing many unconventional techniques with their instruments to create the off world feel needed. There is a story of a film producer who sits in the recording of a score and after the first take said to the conductor "that was amazing...how many times did the orchestra rehearse to sound that good?". The conductor replied " that was the first time they played this...they are all professional musicians who can sight read perfectly...that is why we are using them and you are paying them!"
Easily forgetting the best, the RCO amsterdam
Always remember that this is DANCE music!
That was 1913. However, in 1737, Jean-Féry Rebel (born 1666) presented his ballet "Les Elemens", the first part sounds like Stravinsky, take a listen: czcams.com/video/dnlaCenlNHk/video.htmlsi=3gKBp9lNNntj-VtQ
It's a shame that we couldn't hear any of your comments. Glad you enjoyed it though. The LSO is one of the great world orchestras. I'm always amazed that Rattle (and other conductors) could conduct this without a score.
I’m a progressive and symphonic rock/metal head but I love a good piece of classical music.
There a so many beautiful pieces. This is one of them.
The firebird suite by Igor Stravinsky
Try Peer Gynt suites by Grieg.
Ma vlast: Die Moldau by Smetana
The four seasons by Vivaldi
Mozart
The planets by Gustav Mahler
Bolero by Ravel
You could also look at the wonderful Fantasia 1 and 2 by Disney
The funniest thing was watching you trying to count the beats. Now imagine the dancers.
😂
This was my first piece of classical music I liked many years ago. There's a whole story of course to the Rite, enough for a Phd. If the music alone seems astonishing, then the ballet it was written for is equally crazy. You can listen to this a thousand times and find something new every time.
I would effing love to se a video where you, Doug Helvering, and Rick Beato talks about a piece of music. I would pay ready money for that!
One of my favourite classical pieces. It looks like a good workout for the orchestra.
You shoud look at the movie « Coco and Igor ». The 1st scene is of the first representation of this piece (and ballet), and of the public’s reaction. The title refers to Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky
Incredibly skilled musicians playing music that came out of one person's mind! Compositional genius! Stravinsky rocks!
Brad again, check the choreography of The Right of Spring, and a opera piece he did called Les Noces, (the wedding) WOW
During the music I could not hear what you were saying. But I appreciate very much your enthusiasm.
A favorite bit of musical trivia: the very opening is played by a bassoon at the very very top of its range. It is apparently common to sing along with this as "I'm..........not an english horn. I'm.......not an english horn. This note's too HIGH for me. I'm not an english horn."
Great choice. Great reaction. This is MUSIC.
JP, I just want to commend you for doing this on your channel. This is a challenging masterpiece of avant-garde classical music. And it's performed by a wonderful orchestra full of virtuoso musicians, and a conductor who is inspired, to say the least. I love your reaction to this music. I loved hearing it again. Bravo!
I appreciate that BJW! Ty
Great reaction! Many years ago, I saw an amazing performance of the ballet by the Bejart dance company. You can see it on youtube... "Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring Ballet XXe siecle Maurice Bejart".
Thanks Casey!
Yes! Also, the Joffrey did a performance in which they tried to restore the original scenery and choreography: czcams.com/video/jo4sf2wT0wU/video.html
Thanks. Nice to see you appreciating. Some people don't get it - that's OK horses for courses.
Thank you Vic :)
音楽の面では、ストップモードやリズムブロックが現代の音楽らしい爆発を生んでくれています。僕にとってもこの音楽は衝撃的だったけどわかりやすかったのです。変拍子や複雑と言われている所も大きなブロックで見ると規則的でむしろ複数の楽器で１つの音色やメロディを作ったり、旋律楽器といわれたパートに至るまでにリズムの解放を徹底しています。どんな音楽にもインスピレーションを受けてカラダが動き出すような感動的な躍動があるようにこの音楽はアコースティック楽器の限界までを駆使してパフォーマンスの限りを尽くしています。どうもありがとうございます。
Along with my Dad's wide assortment of Jazz Master's & classics, I also grew up listening to this in the background being that Stravinsky was one of my father's Classical favorite composers. I am sure someone mentioned the great Fantasia Movie scenes. There is wonderful Ballet, beautifully filmed on Ytube, called Return of the Firebird
"The Rite of Spring" premiere in Paris caused a great scandal, with lots of people in the audience leaving the place and booing Stravinsky and his Orchestra. After arriving in France, Stravinsky had already absorbed Debussy´s influence mixing it with his Russian musical heritage. The result, as we all know, was sheer fire.
This piece describes an old Slavic ritual from their ancient religion.
I got to see the 100th centenaire at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris at 8:00 pm on May 29, 2013 in the exact place it premiered 100 years earlier to the day. It was beyond amazing! And you're right - it was and still is sheer fire.
When you listen to this kind of music, pieces like Supper's Ready grow in an other dimension. You can see the link between classical complex artwork and progressive rock structures.
The masterpiece that changed music forever.
Probably the most unique and intense pieces of "classical" music I've ever heard and one of my favorites. Thanks for the listen!
This a piece I always liked a lot and relisten regularly. Well in fact if like prog-rock you certainly also like most symphonic pieces like the 5th, 6th, 9th from Beethoven, or Carmina Burana, or Pieces from Grieg and so on… Yes used a Stravinsky piece to open their concerts in the 70'. A direct connection.
I'd definitely recommend watching the ballet if you have the time. The Joffrey Ballet partially reconstructed the original 1913 staging and costumes, if you want a good idea of what people rioted over at the time. A lot of choreographers have put their own interpretive spin on the music, though. Pina Bausch is a notable one.
Loved your reaction! One of the greatest, and scariest pieces of music ever written. Ive played this many times on cello (most recently on my birthday with BBCSO in this very hall!) and it’s always like having an out of body experience. You have to know the piece so well that you can sing along from start to finish, every time signature change, every single instrument’s entry - then you can really have fun with it. This was such a good performance too - the legendary Simon Rattle - what a musician.
N.B - 18:18 is almost impossible to play on the cello, it’s two pages of faking it till you make it! X
Man, you're vy prescient. Riots broke out at the premiere. All the other things you've divined are pretty spot on!
The amount of syncopation in this piece probably is more than all the pieces in music history that came before it combined! lol
Joking aside, this piece was transformative for me when I first heard it.
It takes you into a different world, because it's almost completely self-referential and doesn't borrow from a lot of other music.
You should also check out some stuff by Debussy, who was a big influence on Stravinsky - either Nuages from his Nocturnes, or La Mer. Nuages in particular has some really interesting and beautiful harmonies, which I think are more subtle than The Rite Of Spring. It was written about 15 years before, so I guess that makes sense.
Debussy's String Quartet is also amazing.
Just a couple more recommendation - Tapiola or Symphony No 7 by Sibelius. Some of the best pieces of music in history.
So much more music I could recommend 😅
Now you know where most filmmusic composers "borrowed" from.
The premiere of this piece was a huge scandal, people were so shocked, there were fist fights within the audience, ballet dancers as well as musicians were threatened.
You can hear in this piece some of the classical music than influenced John Williams' score for Star Wars. Especially some of the Stormtrooper themes. Stravinsky has long been one of my favorites.
This seriously challenged peoples ears at the time. The ballet was BIZARRE.
There are some crazy time signatures.
This is a wonderful first reception to this masterpiece, a keystone of modernism in classical music.Thank you for sharing your first listen with us. You express keen musical sensibilities as well as a candid focused deep engagement in the act of listening and take genuine delight in discovery with a sensitive grace and eloquence. Those polyrhythms and clustered harmonies in passages of unrelenting menace contrasted with many shimmering layered subtle chilling sonorities, the recurring cell motifs transformed in lush twisting inward turning shifts cascading and pulsing in incandescent timbres and returning to tumult and primordial tonal violence. These are life shaking and wondrous aren't they? Thanks for sharing your experience.
In delightfully stark contrast to Rite of Spring you should try "first listens" to Stravinsky's later ballets Apollo (1928) and Orpheus (1947) and a late ballet Agon (1957). And definitely check out his take on the subjects of war and ambition and greed and their effect on human values and the battle for the soul in his mind blowing The Soldier's Tale (1919). A couple of shorter Stravinsky works that would work well as first listening picks are his melodic Pastorale (1907) and the quirky Circus Polka (1942) and his jazz inspired piece commissioned by swing band leader Woody Hermann originally recorded by them at the time of its premiere, the delightful bluesy jerky-bop inflected Ebony Concerto (1945).
Thank you so much Peter! I'm glad you enjoyed :D
In college I was involved in a performance of Stravinsky's Led Noces (The Wedding). I spent a good time of the performance silent, counting measures with constantly changing time signatures. Very demanding but fun.
Works for me!!!
Thanks. Wow, video too!
Looking forward to so Chopin one day...
I love it you go into classical music as well, openminded! Ever tried Shostakovich 'heavy metal' allegro non troppo from 8th Symphony? Its ery and spooky.
It's a ballet by Dhiaghilev with a big score of dancers... You can find the whole performance with the big orchestra on youtube, watch it and witness the sacrificial ritual.
Your expositions on the Rite of Spring and on Alice's Restaurant are top notch, and I am thankful for them. Another, more visual, explanation of the Rite of Spring can be found on the YT channel "Classics Explained", Episode 10: The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. I stumbled on this channel when I was looking for a cover of Rhapsody in Blue (recommended).
Igor Stravinsky! Ahead of his Time! Next try The Planets! Gustav Holst.
thank you thank you thank you
finally a grownup reaction
I too first heard it from the Disney movie Fantasia and have been hooked on the great Russian composers since.
try the Firebird and Petrushka then on to Shostakovich you are just starting your journey.
I f you really want to watch something so far out there try Heilung you won't be disappointed
Take a look at the ballet performed by Joffrey Ballet which recreates the 1913 Paris
debut. Costumes and sets as well as the original choreographie were reproduced.
Then look at the choreographie of Pina Bausch, which is a totally different concept,
though both use the same music: The Rite of Spring. Just say'n.
Final observation! My wife, who played bassoon for a while (*self-taught it* in high school because the other concert band options were getting boring; my wife is kind of ridiculous sometimes) says that opening bassoon solo is infamous among players because it's so high many of them can't hit the notes at all. Just listening, I would have guessed it was something in the reed family, but like... maybe a clarinet or oboe. NOT A BASSOON, bassoons are most often 'bluuuuuuuuh' lower notes.
The best piece of music ever created by a human.
Agreed!
This is my favourite piece of music like EVER..I mean when I first heard it I got SO OBSESSED with it that I probably heard for 30 times within A WEEK😂
P.s.1 There are videos that you can see how hard is to follow along with this piece and it’s times signatures like this: czcams.com/video/OONyabmgRJ4/video.html
P.s.2 I really loved your video and reaction and I would love to see more classical reactions!
I would definitely recommend you to check Stravinsky’s “The Firebird Suite”, An Alpine Symphony from Richard Strauss,6th Symphony of Tchaikovsky and last but least the MASSIVE artwork of music “Planets” of Gustav Holst!!