Stravinsky

Summary

Dominique Pagani sees The Rite of Spring as the break that opens the music of the 20th century. Coming from the Asian edges of Europe and premiered in Paris by the Ballets Russes, the Rite sweeps away impressionism and the fin-de-siècle atmosphere. He compares it to Les Demoiselles d'Avignon1 and sees in it the break with Isolde's death2. For Stravinsky, being modern means seeking out deep, forgotten archaisms: brutality, pagan rituals, the rhythmic whiplash3. He reports that, according to Adorno, the Rite is a false modern next to Schoenberg; for his part, he finds that the work has not aged and does not lump it together with neoclassical pastiches such as Pulcinella45. He also takes up the objectivist view of the performer: Stravinsky asks performers to play what is written, but he adds that tempo cannot be entirely prescribed6. He recalls that Stravinsky defends Tchaikovsky as the most secretly Russian of composers. Finally, he links the Rite to the "crueller" music that Nietzsche foresaw.

1. 1#8 Happiness and unhappiness in music11 Jan 2021 · 1:22:36
2. 2#5 Happiness versus the death drive in music11 Dec 2020 · 1:14:20
3. 3#3 What is called modern music?3 Dec 2020 · 43:14
4. 4#3 What is called modern music?3 Dec 2020 · 24:29
5. 5#3 What is called modern music?3 Dec 2020 · 30:05
6. 6#17 Interpretation25 Mar 2021 · 1:16:21

Summary produced automatically from 42 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.