This
week on Clef Notes, I’d like to focus our attention on controversial ballets.
When I think of this subject, the first ballet that comes to mind is
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. You may
be familiar with this famous ballet from the early 20th century. A Russian
nationalist composer at the start of his career, Stravinsky had his first great
success with The Firebird in 1910.
The work was written as a ballet commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, the
impresario for the Ballets Russes based in Paris. Shortly after this,
Stravinsky began work on The Rite of
Spring, a ballet based on prehistoric Russia and primitivism. The plot
revolves around a young girl who is chosen as a sacrifice and forced to dance
until she dies.
Stravinsky
used The Rite of Spring as a means to
develop his unique voice in the classical music world. Known for its irregular
meter, frequent alternations of notes and rests, and use of dissonant scales,
Stravinsky’s composition is a powerful display of his avant-garde capabilities.
To
those accustomed to 18th and 19th-century repertoire, this ballet may have
crude subject matter and include unusual compositional techniques. But why do
we consider it to be one of the controversial ballets in music history?
At
the premiere of the ballet in 1913, a riot began amongst members of the
audience. Historians believe that it was the choreography created by dancer
Vaclav Nijinsky that provoked the majority of controversy rather than
Stravinsky’s score. You can watch a clip from the ballet below. What do you
think?
