The Beauty Hidden by Disaster
Known as “one of the famous disasters of musical history”, Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” has had one of the largest impacts on the musical history because of its controversial step into modern art. With it’s blend of incredibly challenging polyrhythms, eery and off-putting melodies and choreography, and savage-like themes portrayed on stage, audience members have been known to incite riots and rebellions during performances of the Le Sacre du Printemps (Rite of Spring) due to the pure chaos seen and heard by those attending. Yet, as time has passed, those in the classical music community have relatively quickly come around to this incredibly original and unique composition. This can be seen in a 1951 article from the Los Angeles Times, where author, John Orlando Northcutt, goes into depth on how truly chaotic the premiere of the Rite of Spring was and goes on to compare it to the grasp Stravinsky had on modern art just 38 years later.
In Northcutt’s article, he explains that the upcoming concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra will be nothing like the pure chaos seen at the original premiere where “the savage primitiveness of the music seemed to make savages out of its listeners”. In other words, it explained that as the piece progressed, slowly but surely more audience members began to scream and fight with other members of the audience as well. In addition, the composer and choreographers attempted to stop the rage radiating from those listening and watching. This shines a light on how unpleasant this change in pace for the classical music community must have been for those expecting something more controlled and steady like that of Bach and Beethoven.
This can also be seen in a document from Kelly’s Five Nights where an anonymous person touches on the “rather tormented” premiere of Stravinsky’s piece. They continue to elaborate on the “interruptions [and] violent interjections” seen at the performance, showing the extent to which this riot took place, for every audience member was commenting on the retaliation.
Yet, Northcutt later states that “the brilliance of the orchestral scoring established Stravinsky as one of the most provocative figures in the world of modern art”. In addition, he continues to states that the piece became accepted and performed successfully both with and without the ballet. It can be interpreted that the piece was so controversial and revolutionary that it needed time to finally be accepted as a well-known and studied piece across the globe.
In addition, this article proves to show that it did not take much time for audience members to find this piece to be a work of art rather than an embodiment of savagery as it portrays in its story on stage. With time, I believe that those listening and interpreting the music began to grasp this idea of modernism that Stravinsky saw and that we see today.
For example, the closing 5 minutes of the Rite of Spring demonstrates such difficulty within the music and the ballet choreography that when correctly performed, the impact is phenomenal. That is why most audience members might have been overwhelmed by the original premiere.
What sparks interest is the success of the piece regardless of the backlash received from the entire audience. In addition, it baffles me that orchestras and ballets continued to attempt to perform this piece and reach the audience, regardless of its “failure”. I believe that this is because many professionals were able to see the piece for its originality and creativeness and believed that eventually it would come around (which it did). It brings up the question on whether the piece achieved telling the story on the first premiere. In addition, I wonder if the piece could have received more respect if they were able to understand the story being told. Regardless, it was inevitable that the piece were to spark interest and admiration across the globe for its original take on modern compositions and art.
Sources:
“Dangerous Rite of Spring” by John Orlando Northcutt
Kelly’s “Five Nights”
