Evocation of Dance

issue – exoticism is a much greater feature. Debussy imbibed everything from baroque
music to Javanese gamelan music. In this piece he focuses on Spain; more precisely, on the
architectural attraction of the Alhambra in Granada. The name refers to one of the exquisite
pieces of architecture in the palace, known as the Lindaraja Courtyard. Although the composer
knew the Alhambra only by illustrations, this was enough to appeal to his imagination. This was
understandable as the Spanish atmosphere had been in vogue in Paris in those days. Debussy
succeeds in connecting compositional strength with dancing spirit. This is very much due to
the slow habanera-rhythm being quite familiar to the French audience since Bizet’s “Carmen”.
As mentioned before, Claude Debussy had his share in the history of “THE RITE OF SPRING”
as he was performing the score four-handed together with Stravinsky at an evening party.
Debussy played the bass part then. It is a venerable tradition, therefore, to trust this “piece of
scandal” to the piano. Numerous recordings with two pianists at two pianos certify this.
But why unglue the “Rite” from the orchestra? Isn’t it only due to the complex, colorful sound of
instruments that enables us to experience the elemental force, conjuring up the pagan Russia
from ancient times? When the maiden girl on stage immolates her own life by dance to the
god of spring, the orchestra literally explodes. The brass blare strident dissonances, the timpani
thunder as if unleashed. Possibly even more ingenious are the quiet passages. The high-scored
fagot solo was not chosen by chance, but because it could represent ancient wooden pipes.
This was pointed out by the director, Philippe Jordan, in an interview he gave to the Bavarian
Broadcasting Corporation. In his opinion, the main scandal, which the piece caused at its first
performance in 1913, was less due to its music but more to the fact that it lacked “real” dance
as expected by the audience. Everything was designed in a primitive style, from choreography
to costumes. The composer was imagining a “rite of spring” with wild and rhythmic stamping.
And, concerning rhythm, the piano does not cut a poor figure at all. When the pianists’ four
hands strip the music of all orchestral sounds and lay bare the pure rhythmical structures, one
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