"Rite of Spring"

           

            

            Modernism was the time during the 20^th Century where artists were expanding on the artistic tradition that was set forth already. The art that was created during this time was abstract and unexpected. Composers, such as Igor Stravinsky, were challenging art and forcing it to live up to it’s potential. In Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” he is able to express himself by using modern aesthetics, such as fragmentation, disjunction, and stratification.

            Stravinsky uses fragmentation to help divide the melody of the piece among multiple instruments, adding to unexpected turns throughout the song. Fragmentation is best described as the division of parts of the song into sections, which will make the songs sound like it is unfinished. For example, at 2:00 marks the ending of the string section playing. Suddenly, a lot of instruments start playing such as the clarinet, oboe, flute, and piccolo. When one instrument would begin, another would be about to play. Until this section stops at 3:00, it seems like every instrument is adding their own ideas to the song but it is unfortunately being layered on top multiple instruments with their own ideas.

            Disjunction is used in the “Rite of Spring” to had harmony between two instruments to add unexpected sounds. Disjunction is the harmony between two instruments that is more than a major second, which can sound unpleasing to the ear. At 2:26, the oboe starts playing; setting it up at the instrument that is playing the melody. At 2: 38, the clarinet enters, playing the same melody that the oboe was playing but at a much higher pitch, adding harmony between the two instruments. What is interesting about this specially is that the clarinet, which can have a low song, is playing higher than the oboe, which normally plays at a higher pitch. This harmonization is extremely unexpected.

            Stravinsky adds stratification to build different layers of sound to the song, making the song seem very abstract. The interpretation of stratification could very much be considered chaotic because of the amount of layers a composer can add to the song. Looking at 2:26, many instruments are playing their own ideas, which to the audience can be very overwhelming and abstract. As an audience member, you don’t know what to listen to and how to interpret it. It isn’t until 3:00 when all the chaos ends and the audience is able to hear one idea again.

            The use of modernistic characters help Stravinsky add more abstract and unexpected turns in the “Rite of Spring.” The way he is able to interpret the idea of spring and have all these ideas playing all at once shows how music was transformed during the 20^th Century. Everyone can take something different away from the song every time they listen to it.

OUTLINE

Paragraph 1 – Introduction

Paragraph 2 – Fragmentation; 2:00-3:00

Paragraph 3 – Disjunction; 2:26-2:38

Paragraph 4 – Stratification; 2:26-3:00

Paragraph 5 – Conclusion