issue five - Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, and Debussy,
but with Petrouchka, we hear Stravinsky's
breathtaking originality and liberated musical
mind. As an example, there is a chord used
in this work, the famous "Petrouchka chord,"
of a C-Major against an F#-Major. Though
not unheard of, Stravinsky trumpets it as a
musical motif, which had certainly not been
heard of. In another bit of musical cleverness,
the four scenes are announced by the
rhythmic pounding of the timpani and side
drum, as would be heard at the carnival.
The Rite of Spring debuted in Paris at
the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on May
29th, 1913. To say it was an inauspicious
debut would be an understatement – the
revolutionary music literally caused a riot!
The Rite of Spring deals with stories of Pagan
Russia, with two complementary parts, one
set of actions taking place in the day, the
other at night. In The Adoration of the Earth,
the Introduction begins and ends with the
famous bassoon solo which so befuddled
that first Paris audience. With no pause, the
Augurs of Spring/Dances of the Young Girls
bursts forth with its powerful, evocative
rhythms growing as the dance moves on. A
regular, pulsing rhythm signals an enactment
of a ceremonial abduction of young girls
follows in the Ritual of Abduction, leading
into The Spring Rounds, with its trilling flute
lines and Russian folk melody played by
the clarinet. The Ritual of the Rival Tribes
features some of the most forceful writing
in the entire piece, with tubas blasting and
tympani pounding, climaxing with a chilling
scream leading to the Procession of the Sage,
a march to the wise old village shaman who
lies in Adoration of the Earth and giving it his
blessing. A wild, ecstatic celebration erupts in
the Dance of the Earth, bringing the first part
to a close.
In the second part, we face The Sacrifice.
The Introduction sets the mood, one of
twilight and shadow, inhabited by strange,
primitive creatures of the night. A circle of
sacred stones awaits on a desolate hilltop.
The Mystic Circle of Young Girls forms,
dancing to rhythms carried by the strings
as tribal elders watch and wait – one of the
young girls will be chosen for sacrifice this
night. Suddenly, a terrible, crashing set of
chords from the strings and tympani signal
the choice – one of the maidens stops,
mesmerized, ecstatic in trance, chosen. She
is the object of The Glorification of the Chosen
One, in a wild dance of amazingly complex,
asymmetrical rhythms, only stopping when
the elders call for the blessing of the gods in
Evocation of the Ancestors, with woodwinds,
brass and drum rolls contributing to the
foreboding atmosphere. The music turns
solemn indeed for The Ritual Action of the
Ancestors, as the elders prepare for the
sacrifice. The Sacrificial Dance is wild,
unfettered, revolutionary Stravinsky at his
best. The victim of the sacrifice, intoxicated
by the power of the moment, joins in the
rituals that lead to her own sacrifice to
fertilize the sacred earth. And an astonishing
musical journey comes to an extraordinary
conclusion. ■
Program Notes © 2013 James Alexander
allegro 59