Rite of Spring essay

Kelsey Rebhan

Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring

Right from the start of the piece, Rite of Spring was like nothing people had heard or experienced before in music. Igor Stravinsky was an innovator, creating something new filled with emotion and passion and giving off a sense of chaos, which were the aesthetics of Modernism. Modernism was a time of change, in all aspects of life especially music. Music became less about the structure and more about telling a story. Music became Pessimistic and a search for identity and values in the form of music. Stravinsky’s controversial piece, Rite of Spring embodies aesthetics from 20^th Century Modernism, like Fragmentation, Stratification and Disjunction with the use of texture, melody and rhythm.

The part of the piece I chose was from 3:40 to 5:00. It is a very chaotic part of the piece and it embodies 20^th Century Modernism aesthetics, it was like nothing anyone had ever heard before. The piece all together fluctuates frequently; some parts don’t even sound like they’re in the same song as another part. Fragmentation is used in Rite of Spring frequently; the aesthetics of modernism take control of texture and melody to make it change frequently using instruments differently. Fragmentation is when the music in a piece is separated into segments, like phrases and sentences in a nontraditional way, this was used in the Modernism time period to separate itself from the music that was made in the Enlightenment and Romanticism era, it was unconventional and different causing a wave of controversy. In Rite of Spring it is hard to find where and when some phrases are. The sudden bursts of notes and changing of instruments makes some moments feel like it is a completely different song. For example from 3:40- 4:00 there are sudden and fast paced notes, quickly changing to different melodies and textures causing a very atonal section which means that it didn’t use the traditional scale that was used in the time of the Enlightenment.  The song is not for dancing; songs from the time of Modernism were about telling a story and conveying emotion and passion.

Stratification is the texture and layers of the piece. In Modernism the use of Stratification was applied often; it helped tell the composer’s story that he was trying to convey, it added levels of emotion, passion and intensity. In Rite of Spring stratification is used frequently with the changing melody. The texture of the melody changes frequently for example from 3:40 to 3:49 a very heavy section of the song plays. The texture is deep many string instruments playing in unison loudly but then suddenly from 3:49-3:52 the texture turns into many woodwind instruments playing a melody softly only to be followed by the same melody that played from 3:40- 3:49. The many layers of instruments playing in the orchestra creates an intense and chaotic melody. At times there are different melodies trying to coexist with each other in the melody making the texture even more complex and chaotic than it already was.

Disjunction is prominent in Rite of Spring. It is the use of leaps across the scale and unconventional use of the scale; it is very much a Modernism ideal, the sense of language through the notes to tell a story instead of the piece being composed to be danced to. At 3:57to 4:16 there are random bursts of different melodies on top of the basic melody and it give you a sense of a scene, as though you can imagine a chaotic scene in spring and movement around the scene. The rhythm is constantly changing making it hard to dance to and having it be more of a Modernism composition. The different melodies seem to resemble different characters interacting with one another. Rite of Spring was to tell a story and bring out the viewer's emotions and thoughts.

Fragmentation, Stratification and Disjunction are Modernism ideals that used texture, melody and rhythm to convey Modernism aesthetics in Stravinsky’s composition, Rite of Spring.

Out Line

            Intro: Talk about Modernism aesthetics and how Rite of spring embodies those aesthetics in its piece.

            Thesis: Stravinsky’s controversial piece, Rite of Spring embodies aesthetics from 20^th Century Modernism, like Fragmentation, Stratification and Disjunction with the use of texture, melody and rhythm

            Body #1: Fragmentation- talk about fragmentation and how it is an aesthetic of 20^th Century Modernism and the use of texture, melody and rhythm in it to make Rite of Spring the way it is by using examples from the song like 3:40-4:00 and all together using a section of the song from 3:40-5:00.

            Body #2: Stratification- Talk about what stratification is and how it was an aesthetic of Modernism and where it is in the piece and how texture, melody and rhythm work with it to make Rite of Spring by using and example of 3:40-3:52.

Body #3: Disjunction- Talk about what Disjunction is and how it is an aesthetic of Modernism. Talk about how it applies to the song where it is as an example and how texture, melody and rhythm work with it in Rite of Spring by using examples like 3:57to 4:16.

Conclusion: Recap on what was talked about in essay and restate thesis.