I’ve been listening to several Teaching Company musical biographical courses…The Life and Music of [fill in the blank]. Today on my walk and at other odd and sundry moments of the day I listened to two lectures from Great Masters: Stravinsky – His Life and Music. One entire lecture was devoted to The Rite of Spring and its infamous premiere which caused a riot to break out. It is considered one of the seminal moments in the history of modern music, but it was, all the same, A Scandal.
Professor Robert Greenberg, a wonderful and lively teacher, explained the asymmetrical rhythm patterns and then dubbed his voice on top of the Dance of the Adolescents with the numbers of the pulsing beat: 1-2-3-4-5-6-1-2 –1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-1-2-3-4-5-1-2-1-2-3…
It’s most bizarre sounding. Further, Professor Greenberg reminded me of a word I barely knew: ostinati, constantly repeated melodic patterns (in contrast to a melody which has a destination and gets to said destination).
Just a minute ago, I was skimming through my email and gave a quick glance at The Writer’s Almanac. Oh my!
choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky and music by Igor Stravinsky.
How strange it is that the day I learn about this event is the anniversary of the very day on which it was held! With the time change between Oregon and Paris when I walking and listening is about the time the curtain would have gone up.
That being said, I don’t care for the jarring cacophony and dissonance of this piece. My son said, Stravinsky might have been a nicer person than Tchaikovsky (who was a pedophile), but I like Tchaikovsky’s music better.
A Living Pencil 
Me too!
Cacaphony it certainly is! Ick
I hadn’t heard that about Tchaikovsky, but what I had read surely wasn’t flattering. Sad, that some people with such wonderful gifts are sometimes lacking so much in their personal /moral /religious lives.
Enjoyed the music lesson. I prefer Tchaikovsky’s music as well.
Dana in GA
Enjoyed the music lesson. I prefer Tchaikovsky’s music as well.
Dana in GA
I’m blaming my keyboard….sorry
I do prefer Tchaikovsky, despite his sexual orientation and pedophelia. However, the study of Stravinsky is fascinating. Maybe you should try serialism next. A fascinating study of where of too much rigidity can take music. However, visually, the scores are stunning…
Amber, I finished the Stravinsky course on my walk this morning. And he talked about…serialism. I had never heard that. I wonder if I could see a score online. And I had never heard the phrase Picadilly Thirds (found in Baroque music in a minor key where the last chord is a major chord.)which was just a side note.The scope of Stravinsky’s music is astounding: from Romantic and Russian Nationalist to neoclassical to Schoenbergian. My favorite Stravinsky pieces were the psalms he set to music. Some are quite haunting and seem to capture the mood of the psalms. So next up is Mahler or Shostakovich. Which do you think I should listen to first? I’ll most likely take the next composer chronologically speaking. The last of my courses from my brother is How to Listen to and Understand Opera.