.

And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again? Archilochus

Saturday, July 19, 2014

The Birth of Modernism in Stravinsky's Bacchae

"I saw in imagination a solemn pagan rite; sage elders, seated in a circle, watched a young girl dance herself to death. They were sacrificing her to propitiate the god of spring.”
– Igor Stravinsky (1911)

“No one had ever heard music like it before; it seemed to violate all the most hallowed concepts of beauty, harmony, tone and expression. Never had an audience heard anything so brutal, savage, aggressive and apparently chaotic; it hit the public like a hurricane, like some uncontrollable primeval force."
– Roman Vlad after witnessing the premier of The Rite of Spring

Source of Inspiration for post.

4 comments:

WomanHonorThyself said...

Jaws music is so apropos for our times!!! xoxoxo

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

Kinda makes ya think of Putin, don't it? ;)

FreeThinke said...

The first time I heard Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) my pants began to feel too tight, the oxygen -- in Carnegie Hall! -- suddenly seemed in short supply, I broke into a sweat, and felt as though fire ants were crawling up and down my legs.

In short: I HATED it. (:-x

However, because it had been drummed into my dear little ear hat such things were "good," I forced myself to experience it several more times. After probably the FIFTH or SIXTH hearing, the brilliant originality and magnificent mastery of form and content finally got through to me, and I've been able to enjoy Stravinsky ever since. I sill prefer to see The Rite of Spring, Petrouchka, and The Firebird, etc. in their original ballet form, however.

I'm so glad I was "ACCULTURATED" to pursue these abstruse things despite initial feelings of boredom and distinct aversion.

Indulgence in Philistine complacency -- one of the commonest disorders that keeps the common folk common -- is tantamount to a life sentence in a mental prison where one remains forever isolated from most of the REALLY good things in life.

A SOUL is a terrible thing to WASTE.

Thersites said...

The innovations introduced by Stravinsky were very groundbreaking in their day. They rioted in Paris during the first performance.