Ballet Russes, Paris-based Company, led by Serge Diaghilev has done wonders in promoting Russian music: ballet and opera and was known for its glamorous, rich, and exotic performances. Yes, for French audience in the beginning of 20^th century, Russia was considered to be an extremely exotic place. Russian fairy tales such as Firebird and Petrushka were extremely interesting and thematically intriguing for the Parisian crowds. As a result, it is thanks to Diaghilev’s colossal productions of these ballets and to its’ enormous success, that a young composer, Igor Stravinsky, was revealed to the world. It is not surprising, therefore, that the anticipation for the Rite of Spring premiere was immense.

On May 29^th, 1913 Rite of Spring was performed for the very first time. The young choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, composer Igor Stravinsky and the stage and costumes design Nicholas Roerich marked the beginning of a new era in the music world.

 

The creativity of the composer, choreographer, and costume/ stage designer took Ballet Russes and the world to an entirely different universe. The score’s originality was poised with beautiful melodic elements on one side, and harmonic percussiveness on the other, while complex rhythmic obsessiveness took the performers and its listeners to an ecstatic state. The choreography matched the music perfectly mirroring its euphoric rhythms and incorporating body percussion as part of the dance.

 

The audience of 1913 Paris was shocked, failing to grasp the genius behind this master piece. As a result the performance received mixed reception and had riot outbursts in the audience. The booing, load screams, face slapping, were so bad that the dancers had difficulty hearing the music and Nijinsky himself had to scream counts from the back stage to keep the dancers going.

 

Its’ 100 year celebration, became this year, one of the most desirable programs in music halls. It is performed as a ballet, orchestral concert work, and a piano duet all of which are originals written by Stravinsky.

 

The theme for Rite of Spring came to Stravinsky in a form of vision:

One day, when I was finishing the last pages of The Firebird in St. Petersburg, I had a fleeting vision which came to me as a complete surprise, my mind at the moment being full of other things. I saw in imagination a solemn pagan rite: sage elders, seated in a circle, watched a young girl dance herself to death. They were sacrificing her to propitiate the god of spring.

 

The following summary of Rite of Spring was written by Stravinsky himself, which was published in the program for the Moscow concert premiere in 1914:

Scenes of pagan Russia, united inwardly by the mystery of the reat upsurge of all the creative powers of Spring…

 

PartI: The kiss of the Earth. The celebrants of Spring are seated on hills. They blow dudki [reed pipes]. Youths learn the art of divination from an old woman who knows all the secrets of Nature. Young maidens, costumed and wiht painted faces, come from the river in single file. They dance the Spring Dance. This is followed by the Game of Abduction and the Spring Rounds, for which the youths divide into different tribes that attack each other. An opening is cleared for the Eldest and Wisest , who enters at the head of a religious procession. The games stop and the people wait, trembling, for the blessing of the earth. The eldest makes a sign to kiss the earth and everyone dances, stomping the earth.

 

PartII: The Great Sacrifice. Night. The maidens perform secret games and group themselves in circles. One of the maidens is chosen for the Sacrifice. Fate points to her twice: twice she is caught in one of the circles without an exit. The maidens dance a martial dance honoring the Chosen One. The Invocation of the Ancestors. The maidens bring the Chosen One to the Elders, and the Sacrificial Dance begins before the eldest and Wisest.