Igor Stravinsky’s famous score for the ballet The Rite of Spring is 100 years old this month, and the whole world (including the San Francisco Symphony in a few weeks) is celebrating. We turn to Sergei Diaghilev, the general director (and creator) of the Ballets Russes (Russian ballet). Diaghilev’s famous motto was “Étonnez-moi” (Astonish me!) and thanks to the young Stravinsky and the great dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, the Ballets Russes did that right out of the gate. Diaghilev went on to commission many great ballet scores from the most illustrious composers of the early 20th century, establishing ballet and modern dance as a major genre for new music and musicians. Here are a few excerpts from that treasure trove.
- 1 and 2. “Introduction” and “Augurs of Spring” from The Rite of Spring, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor
Stravinsky once compared the weird and wild opening of this ballet to a Russian spring, when the river ice cracks as it melts. You can hear a bass clarinet imitating a bullfrog, and other cool sounds as a Russian folk tune weaves through. - 3 and 4. “Fandango” and “Seguidillas” from The Three-Cornered Hat (Manuel de Falla), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, conductor
From Russia to Spain in one leap. - 5 and 6. “Acrobats” and “Rag-time” from Parade (Erik Satie, 1917), Jean-Philippe Collard and Pascal Rogé, piano.
This parade is a circus sideshow, not the parade we think of. Satie used an Irving Berlin song (“That Mysterious Rag”) as the basis of his ragtime, but in the piano four-hand version you miss some of the unusual things that are in the orchestral score, like gunshots and a typewriter typing. - 7. “Daybreak” from Daphnis et Chloe (Maurice Ravel, 1915), Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit
- 8. “The Shrovetide Fair” from Petrushka (Igor Stravinsky, 1911)
The Stravinsky ballet that preceded Rite of Spring was also a hit, and this is probably its most famous excerpt. It makes a terrific, energetic finale to this playlist.