Igor Stravinsky - Rite of Spring

Well i couldn't believe that i'm the only one who enjoys atonality on this forum. So lets discus! This is most likely the most famous work of Stravinsky and the most shocking one. When first performed it was not mush a success, people thought of it as "horrible and vulgar". To me it is probably one of the best pieces of music ever written, so i'm dying to hear your opinions.
thanks in forward!

Well i couldn't believe that i'm the only one who enjoys atonality on this forum. So lets discus! This is most likely the most famous work of Stravinsky and the most shocking one. When first performed it was not mush a success, people thought of it as "horrible and vulgar". To me it is probably one of the best pieces of music ever written, so i'm dying to hear your opinions.
thanks in forward!

Personally, I love his work, especially rite of spring! It has influence me in more ways than one

Well, I don't hear the Rite of Spring as being atonal, if atonal-ness requires a feeling of groundlessness...a lot of the piece consists of static harmony. This harmony is often complex, sometimes made of two or more chords or modes stacked on top of one another (polytonality, perhaps), but what doesn't happen is harmony drifting so fast that I can't keep track of it. If there were a spectrum from modal (noodling around in a scale statically) to tonal (changing chords but with a definite hierarchy) to atonal (too much change), I would put a lot of the Rite in the modal category.


What most has entranced me about the Rite of Spring is the rhythms, the way that Stravisky can take one or two motives and make an insanely unpredictable (while coherent!) melody or phrase with them.

Oh, and let's see, my favorite movements are "Ritual of the Ancients" and of course "Dance of the Earth" though those are translated titles. I tried to arrange the latter for band once.

Well, I don't hear the Rite of Spring as being atonal, if atonal-ness requires a feeling of groundlessness...a lot of the piece consists of static harmony.Â* This harmony is often complex, sometimes made of two or more chords or modes stacked on top of one another (polytonality, perhaps), but what doesn't happen is harmony drifting so fast that I can't keep track of it.Â* If there were a spectrum from modal (noodling around in a scale statically) to tonal (changing chords but with a definite hierarchy) to atonal (too much change), I would put a lot of the Rite in the modal category.
What most has entranced me about the Rite of Spring is the rhythms, the way that Stravisky can take one or two motives and make an insanely unpredictable (while coherent!) melody or phrase with them.

Oh, and let's see, my favorite movements are "Ritual of the Ancients" and of course "Dance of the Earth" though those are translated titles.Â* I tried to arrange the latter for band once.
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I'm pretty sure that it's atonal at at leats some point (when you have 4 tonalities at the same time you must call it atonal). And i didn't know that atonality is supposed to be "without harmonoy".
Oh and my favorite is Glorification of the Chosen One and the Sacrificial Dance of the Chosen One.

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Wolf, your MP3 atatchment doesen't work! Anyways, from what little i've heard of the ''Rite Of Spring'', i'd say it's an unpleasant, if not painfull, listen.

Sorry about this, i probably didn't add much too the discussion!

Edit: if anyone could direct me to some mp3s i'd probably have more to say...

Wolf, your MP3 atatchment doesen't work!* Anyways, from what little i've heard of the ''Rite Of Spring'', i'd say it's an unpleasant, if not painfull, listen.

Sorry about this, i probably didn't add much too the discussion!

Edit: if anyone could direct me to some mp3s i'd probably have more to say...

If you have AIM, I can send you the song.

The Rite of Spring is one of my favorite pieces for orchestra. However, it does take some getting used to, because the harmonic/melodic rules that govern it are quite different from say romantic or even popular music. However it does seem abide by a hierarchy of chords and successions, and therefore I would classify it as tonal - but perhaps extended tonality. In my book, the only atonal music is music where pitches are chosen based upon mathmatical/geometric principals (Webern) and also "sound mass" pieces like some of Pendrecki.

Anyways, give the Rite a few more tries and you'll find it to be an extremely passionate, involving work. It also might help to watch "Fantasia" because sometimes an image helps to lessen the shock value of music (we've all appreciated the effects of atonal music in movies, for example).

Anyways, give the Rite a few more tries and you'll find it to be an extremely passionate, involving work.* It also might help to watch "Fantasia" because sometimes an image helps to lessen the shock value of music (we've all appreciated the effects of atonal music in movies, for example).

"Fantasia" is the reason i love any sort of music. dissonance because of stravinsky.

As a fan of Zappa, I can say I like any music that's not "normal". This is not normal; I like it. Stravinsky was one of Zappa's favorite composers, and I can definitely see the influence in certain Zappa songs.

Yeh, I have to agree with Jacob and Nightscape in saying that Rite of Spring is not atonal. Sure, it doesn't use traditional harmony, but for the most part, all of the chords have a tonal center (or two, as there's a lot of bimodal stuff going on, and maybe even more). It's true that Stravinsky eventually did some serial stuff later in his career, Rite of Spring certainly wasn't one of them (being his 3rd or 4th major composition I believe - after Fireworks, the Firebird, Petrushka, and maybe something else).

Like Jacob, the rhymthic rush is mostly what intrigues me about this piece. At parts, you the rhythms even sound like those from contemporary music (ie, those timpani 5ths or whatnot, from I forgot which section). But no matter how you classify it, it's an enjoyable piece .