Editing The Rite of Spring (section)

== Music ==
=== General character ===
Commentators have often described ''The Rite''{{'}}s music in vivid terms; Paul Rosenfeld, in 1920, wrote of it "pound[ing] with the rhythm of engines, whirls and spirals like screws and fly-wheels, grinds and shrieks like laboring metal".<ref>Rosenfeld, p. 202</ref> In a more recent analysis, ''The New York Times'' critic [[Donal Henahan]] refers to "great crunching, snarling chords from the brass and thundering thumps from the timpani".<ref>{{cite news|author-link= Donal Henahan|last= Henahan|first= Donal|title= Philharmonic: Incarnations of Spring|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/23/arts/philharmonic-incarnations-of-spring.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date= 23 March 1984|access-date=19 March 2021}}</ref> The composer [[Julius Harrison]] acknowledged the uniqueness of the work negatively: it demonstrated Stravinsky's "abhorrence of everything for which music has stood these many centuries&nbsp;... all human endeavour and progress are being swept aside to make room for hideous sounds".<ref>Harrison, p. 168</ref>

In ''The Firebird'', Stravinsky had begun to experiment with [[Polytonality|bitonality]] (the use of two different keys simultaneously). He took this technique further in ''Petrushka'', but reserved its full effect for ''The Rite'' where, as the analyst E.W. White explains, he "pushed [it] to its logical conclusion".<ref>White 1961, p. 59</ref> White also observes the music's complex metrical character, with combinations of [[Duple meter|duple]] and [[Triple meter|triple]] time in which a strong irregular beat is emphasised by powerful percussion.<ref>White 1961, p. 61</ref> The music critic [[Alex Ross (music critic)|Alex Ross]] has described the irregular process whereby Stravinsky adapted and absorbed traditional Russian folk material into the score. He "proceeded to pulverize them into motivic bits, pile them up in layers, and reassemble them in cubistic collages and montages".<ref>Ross, p. 90</ref>

The duration of the work is about 35 minutes.

=== Instrumentation ===
The score calls for a large orchestra consisting of the following instruments:<ref>{{cite book |last=Stravinsky |first=Igor |title=The Rite of Spring |publisher=[[Boosey & Hawkes]] |year=1967 |type=score}}</ref>

{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
'''[[Woodwind]]s'''
:1 [[piccolo]]
:3 [[flute]]s (third doubling second piccolo)
:1 [[alto flute]]
:4 [[oboe]]s (fourth doubling second cor anglais)
:1 [[cor anglais]]
:3 [[soprano clarinet|clarinets]] in B{{music|flat}} and A (third doubling second bass clarinet)
:1 [[E-flat clarinet|clarinet in E{{music|flat}}]] and D
:1 [[bass clarinet]]
:4 [[bassoon]]s (fourth doubling second contrabassoon)
:1 [[contrabassoon]]

'''[[Brass instrument|Brass]]'''
:8 [[French horn|horns]] (seventh and eighth doubling tenor [[Wagner tuba]]s)<ref>Del Mar, p. 266</ref>
:1 [[piccolo trumpet]] in D
:4 [[trumpets]] in C (fourth doubling [[bass trumpet]] in E{{music|flat}})
:3 [[trombone]]s
:2 bass [[tuba]]s
{{col-break}}

'''[[Percussion]]'''
:5 [[timpani]] (requiring two players)
:[[bass drum]]
:[[tam-tam]]
:[[Triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]]
:[[tambourine]]
:[[cymbal]]s
:[[Crotales|antique cymbals]] in A{{music|flat}} and B{{music|flat}}
:[[güiro]]
'''[[String section|Strings]]'''
:[[violin]]s I, II
:[[viola]]s
:[[cello]]s
:[[double bass]]es

{{col-end}}
Despite the large orchestra, much of the score is written chamber-fashion, with individual instruments and small groups having distinct roles.<ref name="Kelly, p. 280" />

=== Part I: The Adoration of the Earth ===
{{Block indent|<score sound="1"> \relative c'' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"bassoon" \clef treble \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \tempo "Lento" 4 = 50 \stemDown c4\fermata(_"solo ad lib." \grace { b16[( c] } b g e b' \times 2/3 { a8)\fermata } } </score>}}
The opening melody is played by a solo bassoon in a very high register, which renders the instrument almost unidentifiable;<ref>Kelly, p. 259</ref> gradually other woodwind instruments are sounded and are eventually joined by strings.<ref name=Berger /> The sound builds up before stopping suddenly, Hill says, "just as it is bursting ecstatically into bloom". There is then a reiteration of the opening bassoon solo, now played a semitone lower.<ref name=Hill62>Hill, pp. 62–63</ref>
{{Block indent|<score sound="1"> { \new PianoStaff << \new Staff \relative c' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin" \clef treble \key ees \major \time 2/4 \tempo "Tempo giusto" 2 = 50 <ees des bes g>8\downbow[ <ees des bes g>\downbow <ees des bes g>\downbow <ees des bes g>\downbow] } \new Staff \relative c { 
 \override DynamicText.X-offset = #-4 
 \override DynamicLineSpanner.staff-padding = #3.5
\set Staff.midiInstrument = #"cello" \clef bass \key ees \major \time 2/4 <fes ces aes fes>8^\f\downbow[ <fes ces aes fes>\downbow <fes ces aes fes>\downbow <fes ces aes fes>\downbow] } >> } </score>}}

The first dance, "Augurs of Spring", is characterised by a repetitive stamping chord in the horns and strings, based on E{{music|flat}} dominant 7 superimposed on an F{{music|flat}} major [[Triad (music)|triad]], {{em|i.e.}} F{{music|flat}}, A{{music|flat}}, and C{{music|flat}}{{refn|group=n|This is [[Enharmonic equivalence|enharmonically equivalent]] to an E major triad, {{em|i.e.}} E, G{{music|sharp}}, and B; however, the score clearly notates it as an F{{music|flat}} major triad.}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stravinsky |first=Igor |title=The Rite of Spring |publisher=[[Boosey & Hawkes]] |year=1997 |type=score |page=10}}</ref><ref>Van den Toorn, p. 138</ref> White suggests that this bitonal combination, which Stravinsky considered the focal point of the entire work, was devised on the piano, since the constituent chords are comfortable fits for the hands on a keyboard.<ref>White 1961, p. 57</ref> The rhythm of the stamping is disturbed by Stravinsky's constant shifting of the [[Accent (music)|accent]], on and off the beat,<ref name=Ross75>Ross, p. 75</ref> before the dance ends in a collapse, as if from exhaustion.<ref name=Berger /> Alex Ross<ref name=Ross75 /> has summed up the pattern (italics = rhythmic accents) as follows:
<poem style="text-align: center;">
one two three four five six seven eight
one ''two'' three ''four'' five six seven eight
one ''two'' three four ''five'' six seven eight
''one'' two three four five ''six'' seven eight</poem>

According to Roger Nichols "At first sight there seems no pattern in the distribution of accents to the stamping chords. Taking the initial quaver of bar 1 as a natural accent we have for the first outburst the following groups of quavers: 9, 2, 6, 3, 4, 5, 3. However, these apparently random numbers make sense when split into two groups:
<poem style="text-align: center;">
9 6 4 3
2 3 5</poem>

Clearly the top line is decreasing, the bottom line increasing, and by respectively decreasing and increasing amounts ...Whether Stravinsky worked them out like this we shall probably never know. But the way two different rhythmic 'orders' interfere with each other to produced apparent chaos is... a typically Stravinskyan notion."<ref>{{cite book |last=Nichols|first=Roger|title=Stravinsky|publisher=The Open University Press|location=Milton Keynes|year=1978|page=7}}</ref>

The "Ritual of Abduction" which follows is described by Hill as "the most terrifying of musical hunts".<ref>Hill, p. 67</ref> It concludes in a series of flute trills that usher in the "Spring Rounds", in which a slow and laborious theme gradually rises to a dissonant fortissimo, a "ghastly caricature" of the episode's main tune.<ref name=Berger>{{cite video
 | people = [[Arthur Berger (composer)|Berger, Arthur]] (liner notes)
 | title = ''Stravinsky'': The Rite of Spring. ''Antal Dorati conducting the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra''
 | medium = Vinyl LP
 | publisher = Oriole Records Ltd: Mercury Classics
 | location = London
 | date = 1949
 | access-date=19 March 2021
| url = https://www.discogs.com/Stravinsky-Antal-Dorati-Conducting-The-Minneapolis-Symphony-Orchestra-The-Rite-Of-Spring-Le-Sacre-Du/release/1718845/image/SW1hZ2U6MzAyNDMyNw==}}</ref>
{{Block indent|<score sound="1"> \relative c'' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"trombone" \clef treble \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \tempo "Molto allegro" 4 = 166 gis2. g4 | gis2. g4 | gis2. fis4 | gis ais cis ais } </score>}}
Brass and percussion predominate as the "Ritual of the Rival Tribes" begins. A tune emerges on tenor and bass tubas, leading after much repetition to the entry of the Sage's procession.<ref name=Berger /> The music then comes to a virtual halt, "bleached free of colour" (Hill),<ref>Hill, p. 70</ref> as the Sage blesses the earth. The "Dance of the Earth" then begins, bringing Part I to a close in a series of phrases of the utmost vigour which are abruptly terminated in what Hill describes as a "blunt, brutal amputation".<ref name=H72>Hill, pp. 72–73</ref>

=== Part II: The Sacrifice ===
{{Block indent|<score sound="1"> \relative c'''' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin" \clef treble \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \tempo "Largo" 4 = 48 a4~\flageolet( a8\flageolet g\flageolet) a4(\flageolet e8\flageolet d\flageolet) | \time 2/4 g4(\flageolet e)\flageolet } </score>}}
[[File:Sacrificialdance.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Sketches of Maria Piltz performing the sacrificial dance]]
Part II has a greater cohesion than its predecessor. Hill describes the music as following an arc stretching from the beginning of the Introduction to the conclusion of the final dance.<ref name=H72 /> Woodwind and muted trumpets are prominent throughout the Introduction, which ends with a number of rising cadences on strings and flutes. The transition into the "Mystic Circles" is almost imperceptible; the main theme of the section has been prefigured in the Introduction. A loud repeated chord, which Berger likens to a call to order, announces the moment for choosing the sacrificial victim. The "Glorification of the Chosen One" is brief and violent; in the "Evocation of the Ancestors" that follows, short phrases are interspersed with drum rolls. The "Ritual Action of the Ancestors" begins quietly, but slowly builds to a series of climaxes before subsiding suddenly into the quiet phrases that began the episode.<ref name=Berger />
{{Block indent|
<onlyinclude>{{#ifeq:{{{transcludesection|sacrificialdancescore}}}|sacrificialdancescore|
<score sound="1"> { \new PianoStaff << \new Staff \relative c'' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin" \clef treble \tempo 8 = 126 \override DynamicLineSpanner.staff-padding = #4 \time 3/16 r16 <d c a fis d>-! r16\fermata | \time 2/16 r <d c a fis d>-! \time 3/16 r <d c a fis d>8-! | r16 <d c a fis d>8-! | \time 2/8 <d c a fis>16-! <e c bes g>->-![ <cis b aes f>-! <c a fis ees>-!] } \new Staff \relative c { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"cello" \clef bass \time 3/16 d,16-! <bes'' ees,>^\f-! r\fermata | \time 2/16 <d,, d,>-! <bes'' ees,>-! | \time 3/16 d16-! <ees cis>8-! | r16 <ees cis>8-! | \time 2/8 d16^\sf-! <ees cis>-!->[ <d c>-! <d c>-!] } >> } </score>
}}</onlyinclude>
}}

The final transition introduces the "Sacrificial Dance". This is written as a more disciplined ritual than the extravagant dance that ended Part I, though it contains some wild moments, with the large percussion section of the orchestra given full voice. Stravinsky had difficulties with this section, especially with the final bars that conclude the work. The abrupt ending displeased several critics, one of whom wrote that the music "suddenly falls over on its side". Stravinsky himself referred to the final chord disparagingly as "a noise", but in his various attempts to amend or rewrite the section, was unable to produce a more acceptable solution.<ref name=H86 />