Sociopolitical Change and Stravisnky’s Rite of Spring

Blog Post 7

What comes to mind when you think of the Rite of Spring? One of the main things that put this piece down in history as the idea that there was some sort of riot at the premiere. Although it seems unlikely that there was an actual riot, there definitely were some large reactions from the audience, because this piece of music was very new and different. It was challenging social norms, both of the music and dance, which made many people uncomfortable. The Rite of Spring has gone down in history as a big change maker in music. I found an article from the New York Times titled ‘Rite of Spring as a right of passage’, and it seems to relate to social change from the Rite of Spring to the social change of today. I believe the article came out in 2007, when they were doing a project that involved the Rite of spring. The program was titled the Stravinsky project, and seemed to honor Stravinsky, as well as bring the music into a more modern lens. This production was put on by Mr. Maldoon, and he did mainly contemporary dance and used it to help bring about social and political change.

Some of the reasons the Rite of Spring shocked its first audience was the amount of dissonance, the old rhythms, and ungraceful dance. Nothing like that had really been done before, and it hasn’t been done very much since then. These elements still aren’t super common in ballet‘s as far as I know, so the music and dance are still just as shocking as they were to an extent. I think the course of music was also changed from this piece, and many other composers took inspiration from it. It’s obviously still important today, since it’s one of the most well-known classical pieces. It’s very interesting to see from the article how important this piece still is today, and how can still create social change the way it did back then. This piece isn’t super old, but it’s 100% still relevant and I think it’s a somewhat timeless piece.

Another interesting thing about the article was that this project featured students from uptown schools and the Berlin Philharmonic, and actually included a lot of disadvantaged people. They gave many children an opportunity to have a better life through dance training. It’s so interesting how dance or music can change your life in this way. Overall, the Rite of Spring was and is a very important piece to learn about, and will continue to create social change.

PS. The article is the New York Times on Sunday, November 11, 2007.