Igor Stravinsky

1. Igor Stravinsky Presentation by: Shayla Rowley

2. Early Life • Born June 7,1882 • 3rd son of Feodor Stravinsky • Began official music lessons at the age of 10 • Suffered from inferiority complex

3. Musical influences • Influenced by the works of Balakirev and Tchaikovsky • Also influenced from the Russian Orthodox Church

4. Road to greatness • Studied philosophy at St. Petersburg and music theory with Fyodor Akimenko and Vassily Kalafati. • Studied with Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov from the age of 20 • Wrote The Firebird at the age of 27 • 18 months later, he wrote his most controversial piece, The Rite of Spring

5. Later in life • In 1938, suffered the deaths of daughter, mother, and wife. • Later married Vera Soudeikine • Relocated to the US and became citizens in 1945 • Had an opportunity to conduct the premiere of this ballet Agon for his 75th birthday concert. • Died April 6, 1971

6. Rite of Spring • Most Controversial piece • Premiered May 29, 1913 • Different than the concept of what a ballet was at the time that a riot broke out within the first few min. • Later reintroduced and redone many times including in Disney’s Fantasia.

7. Part 1-Adoration of the Earth • Introduction: • 0:00 The entrance of a bassoon playing in a range higher than what is normally portrayed by a bassoon and repeating the same phrase over and over. The haunting melody gives the feeling of a world that is being awakened to spring. • 0:46 A second instrument (Clarino) responds to the phrase of the first bassoon. The two instruments echo each other’s tunes back and forth. • 1:16 The tempo suddenly picks up as steady plucking of violas bring irregular polyphony melodies. Irregular melodies continue. Tempo gradually gets faster as dynamics change continually. • 1:20 Bassoon plays sporadic solos • 2:40 Brass enters making dynamics even louder as if it is building towards something • 2:52 Sudden cutoff and a return to the original melody of the bassoon solo. Soft plucking leads into the tempo of the next section.

8. The Augurs of Spring - Dances of the Young Girls: • 0:00-The soft irregular rhythm of the last section is suddenly increased in dynamics as the brass and strings come in full force with the steady beat of eighth notes for the dancers to jump to. The eighth note chords have a rhythm of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, putting stress on the one and five. This provides a good rhythm for the dancers. The thing that makes this music so unique though, is that it also has shifting accents that go 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 and so on. • 0:09-The dynamics decrease and rhythm changes for a few seconds and the return to the loud, steady beat • 0:18-The piccolos create the entrance for the brass to enter with the melody with the violas playing the beat which creates a great sense of form as the repetition creates a sense of comfort and the variety brings excitement to the piece. • 0:37-Violas return to original phrase and eighth notes continue their steady beat with accidentals along the way. • 1:16-Tuba and Timpani suddenly enter with a surprise foreboding feeling. • 1:23-returns to the original rhythm. • 1:39-French horn enters with a solo and instruments begin echoing each other’s melodies. • 2:10-Tempo increases slowly and becomes more legato. • 2:14-Orchestra builds to a climax

9. Ritual of Abduction: • 0:01- The steady beat in the back ceases as the brass creates a sound of anticipation. The bass drums and timpani call in the abduction ritual as the fight breaks out. The instruments in this section are all playing at a very fast tempo as they all play different melodies at different times and for different lengths. It gives the feeling of chaos that this part of the ballet calls for. • 0:05-Phrase A is given which is the first of many random repeated phrases throughout the section. Most of these phrases are just variation of phrase A • 0:57-Phrase A is repeated in a lower range bringing the whole orchestra down to this lower range for the rest of the section. • 1:15-chaos of the ritual halts as a much calmer intro is given for Spring Rounds

10. Spring Rounds: • 0:00-Unison and some sort of order is finally introduced to this piece as two clarinets come in playing a serene tune that is, range wise, as far away from each other as possible. This is phrase A of the section. • 0:28-Phrase B begins as the strings create a pulsing beat with syncopation. • 1:23-Trills are added to the melody. • 2:00-dynamics are suddenly increased as the feeling of calm serenity dissipates. • 2:15-Brass is added to increase dynamics even farther. The separate phrases join to create a counterpoint melody. • 2:45-Another sudden break is introduced as a new melody takes over. • 3:00-All build-up is again cut-off as the original melody of phrase A is repeated bringing the section full circle.

11. Ritual of the Rival Tribes: • 0:00-Quickened tempo once more as the mood returns to foreboding once again. • 0:03-Separate instrument groups mirror each other’s melodies to illustrate the different tribes at war. • 0:29-the bass is removed as the music illustrates pleading from the women. • 0:39-Back to the war. These two contrasting sections repeat back and forth with more and more dynamics • 1:22-Strings become legato to build up to the end of the section.

12. Works cited • Bash, James. "Excellent Film Documentary Surveys Stravinsky’s Life « Oregon Music News." Oregon Music News. Oregon Music News, 7 Oct. 2011. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://oregonmusicnews.com/2011/10/07/excellent-film-documentary-surveys-stravinskys-life/>. • Boosey, and Hawks. "Igor Stravinsky." Boosey and Hawks. Web. 9 Oct. 2011. <http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2708&ttype=BIOGRAPHY&ttitle=Biography>. • Boosey, and Hawkes. "Stravinsky, Igor: The Rite of Spring (Le SacreDu Printemps) (1911-13, Rev.1947) 33' Pictures from Pagan Russia in Two Parts." Boosey and Hawkes. Web. 9 Oct. 2011. <http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/catalogue/cat_detail.asp?musicid=5253>.