Sunday, October 30, 2016

LJ: Stravinsky- The Rite of Spring Part One

Context: Part One of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" was written in 1913. It is meant to depict a scene in which an old woman tells of the future and young girls begin to dance a sacred dance, then split into two groups and commence a ritual. Then village elders come, and a passionate dance ensues in which everyone becomes one with the earth.
Melody: The melody begins very legato, as all of the notes are mainly slurred together.
Pitch: The pitch is mostly conjunct, with not very many leaps, but the range is both wide and not so much, as it mainly stays within the staff.
Structure: This is only Part One of "The Rite of Spring", though it still has many different parts. For example, at 1:18, a new section is introduced as the tone of the piece changes. At 2:55, everything slows down and gets quiet again, going back to what the original section was like. A new section is at 3:32, when everything is staccato. A new section is introduced at 6:42, after the crescendo.
Timbre: In the beginning, there is a clarinet and a flute. There are also trumpets, a timpani, oboes, tubas, bass clarinets, bassoons, trombones, violins, and violas.
Dynamics: The piece is very piano at the beginning. At 1:18, the dynamic is forte, and then goes back to piano before settling at a mezzo-forte. Then, at 2:37 the dynamic is more forte. Again at 2:55, the dynamic is piano before going back to forte with the new section at 3:32. From 6:18-6:41, there is a very large crescendo.
Texture: The piece is polyrhythmic, and the tempo is legato at the beginning. In the section at 1:18, more parts are added, and everything picks up the pace to more of an allegro feel before slowing down again at 1:50. At 2:37, even more parts are added and the rhythms clash together, making everything seem frantic and squishing together. At 3:32, everything gets very staccato. This part is more homorhythmic, with the same rhythm for many of the parts, but eventually goes back to being polyrhythmic.

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