Posted on 05/29/2013 6:20:53 AM PDT by Borges
Stravinsky's work caused a scandal in 1913 but has since been recognized as one of the 20th century's most important pieces.
The audience, packed into the newly-opened Théâtre des Champs-Élysées to the point of standing room only, had neither seen nor heard anything like it.
As the first few bars of the orchestral work The Rite of Spring – Le Sacre du Printemps – by the young, little-known Russian composer Igor Stravinsky sounded, there was a disturbance in the audience. It was, according to some of those present – who included Marcel Proust, Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy – the sound of derisive laughter.
By the time the curtain rose to reveal ballet dancers stomping the stage, the protests had reached a crescendo. The orchestra and dancers, choreographed by the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky, continued but it was impossible to hear the music above what Stravinsky described as a "terrific uproar".
As a riot ensured, two factions in the audience attacked each other, then the orchestra, which kept playing under a hail of vegetables and other objects. Forty people were forcibly ejected.
The reviews were merciless. "The work of a madman … sheer cacophony," wrote the composer Puccini. "A laborious and puerile barbarity," added Le Figaro's critic, Henri Quittard.
It was 29 May 1913. Classical music would never be the same again.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
***”The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”..****
I noticed they were gone before that.
Yes.
Hopefully I communicated some level of ignorance in my original post.
Yes, indeed, today is the day!
which is totally based on Opinion”
Totally?
Well..that is an opinion, I suppose....
And, there’s been an explosion of EXCELLENT choral writing.”
Morten Lauridsen.....
Totally.
LOL
But that of course, is just my opinion.
Anyone that likes “Fantasia” ought to love “Allegro Non Troppo” an Italian parody of Fantasia. It has great animations set to beautiful music. I highly recommend it.
For more information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegro_Non_Troppo
My favorite segment is Ravel’s “Bolero”, a visual masterpiece, the film’s counterpart to “The Rite of Spring”. It represents a funny take on the origins of life and evolution.
The “Bolero” segment from “Allegro Non Troppo”. Be sure to watch it the highest resolution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6aM7st6Xsw
Interesting; my source was a presentation about how cultures differentiate between basic colors in a certain pattern. (Grey-green splits vs. Blue-green splits). But the online etymology agrees with you.
I don’t know if this is a true story, but I recall hearing that there was quite a to-do when Rossini introduced this piece - the musicians thought it was sacrilege to tap with their bows and threatened to walk out on him...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKUJvGBtAkM
Sounds like a talk an artist might give. Maybe they took some artistic license :)
Yep... he's a great one! Shining Night? Magnum Mysterium?? Great works..
But, also.. Rene Clausen has written and arranged some WONDERFUL pieces... I've had the great pleasure of meeting him 3 times, and singing for him twice.
Have to include Rutter and Britten too..... there's been some very good choral music written in the past 100 years.
If I had a tomato... I would THROW it!
YUK!
Thank you for the tip. Will put Rene Clausen on spotify now!!!!
Check out his “Allelujah”..... one of my favorite pieces to perform.
The consumer has spoken with their dollar. They won’t pay for the ballet.
These days there’s much more radical than this ballet. The music is good enough to stand on its own though so people have dispensed with the dance. Ballet doesn’t have the following that music does.
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