The violent Russian spring that seemed to begin in an hour and was like the whole earth cracking — that was the most wonderful event of every year of my childhood.

- Igor Stravinsky

 
Of all scandalous modern classical works — and there were many in the 20th century — Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 ballet, Le Sacre du printemps is undoubtedly the most ground-breaking and influential. (The English title, The Rite of Spring, is more accurately translated from French as The Consecration of Spring; it is subtitled, Tableaux de la Russie païenne or Pictures from Pagan Russia.) So bold and innovative were its explorations of complex metrical changes, polyrhythms, polytonality, and dissonance, it redefined what could be considered music. In one masterstroke, Stravinsky broke decisively with the past and opened new paths for composers who would follow, from George Antheil and his Ballet mécanique, to John Williams and his scores for Jaws and Star Wars. The furor over Le Sacre du printemps was a signal moment in 20th century modernism, and the work became a landmark of western music history. Yet as a few anecdotes of this ballet’s origin and reception suggest, its path to greatness was not straight and its success was far from assured.
 
Le Sacre du printemps was the third ballet Stravinsky composed for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe, and was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, who had brilliantly danced the lead role in Stravinsky’s 1911 ballet, Petrushka. The creation of Le Sacre began with an idea of an ancient Russian fertility ritual, centered on the sacrifice of a young virgin who dances herself to death. Though Stravinsky later claimed the idea was his, it was actually the inspiration of the Russian artist, archaeologist, and folklorist, Nicholas Roerich. Stravinsky worked out the scenario for the two-act ballet with Roerich, who had created the sets for Alexander Borodin’s opera, Prince Igor, and went on to design the set for the original performance of Le Sacre (above, right).
 
Stravinsky began sketching Le Sacre in 1911 in Clarens, Switzerland, on a muted upright piano in a room that measured eight by eight feet. This is an important aspect of the work’s gestation, because many of its dissonances and percussive rhythms were derived from Stravinsky’s obsessive sounding of chords on the piano. For example, the famous “Augurs of Spring” chord (sampled below), an F flat major triad and an E flat dominant seventh played together and repeated almost 200 times, fits under the fingers naturally and has a deeply resonant quality when played at the keyboard. As he composed the orchestral score of Le Sacre, Stravinsky simultaneously worked on a four-hand piano arrangement, which was the public’s primary means of studying the work in its early years and is regarded today as a valid version. In June of 1912, Stravinsky and the French composer Claude Debussy (left) sight-read it together. Debussy commented that the music resembled “a beautiful nightmare.” Later, Stravinsky made two versions of Le Sacre for player piano.
 

Benjamin Frith and Peter Hill, piano, 4 hands - Le Sacre du printemps, Part 1: Augurs of Spring

 
After hearing the composer play Le Sacre on the piano, the conductor Pierre Monteux remarked, “The very walls resounded as Stravinsky pounded away, occasionally stamping his feet and jumping up and down to accentuate the force of the music. Not that it needed such emphasis.” Monteux gave the work its first performance, despite misgivings that it might cause a scandal.
 
The premiere at Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on May 29, 1913 is remembered for the riot, which started shortly after the introductory bassoon melody. Beyond that, little of the music was heard. Yet even though tradition holds that the boos and hisses were triggered by the strange sounds coming from the orchestra, the fracas was apparently preplanned, because factions had formed before the event and were itching for a fight. While the music certainly was shocking, as were the dancers, whose movements were decidedly primitive, awkward, and not at all the refined pirouetting of conventional ballet, the mayhem erupted on ideological grounds. As Jean Cocteau (right) recalled, the dispute was between ” …the smart audience in tails and tulle, diamonds and ospreys, and the suits and bandeaux of the aesthetic crowd. The latter would applaud novelty simply to show their contempt for the people in the boxes.” Cocteau also related that the audience ridiculed the women dancers in their braids and primitive costumes as “knock-kneed Lolitas.”
 
The initial din of catcalls led to fisticuffs in the aisles, and the police arrived by intermission, only to restore a modicum of order. Stravinsky fled the audience, reportedly weeping, and went backstage to find Diaghilev switching the lights on and off, and Nijinsky standing on a chair, shouting numbers in Russian to the dancers, who could no longer hear the orchestra. Monteux was calm and collected as he conducted Le Sacre to the end, despite the maelstrom surrounding him.
 
Though the fiasco depressed Stravinsky and Nijinsky, Diaghilev was delighted with the chaos and claimed afterward that it was exactly what he wanted. However, critical reaction was predictably harsh, though it’s surprising to see how long after the premiere reviewers still took a negative view of the music. Below are some of the more notorious comments, selected from Nicholas Slonimsky’s Lexicon of Musical Invective:
 

The most essential characteristic of Le Sacre du printemps is that it is the most dissonant and the most discordant composition yet written. Never was the system and the cult of the wrong note practiced with so much industry, zeal and fury.
- Pierre Lalo, Le Temps, Paris, June 3, 1913
 
The music of Le Sacre du printemps baffles verbal description. To say that much of it is hideous as sound is a mild description. There is certainly an impelling rhythm traceable. Practically it has no relation to music at all as most of us understand the word.
- Musical Times, London, August 1, 1913
 
One recalls the scandalous spectacle of this Sacre du printemps, or rather a “Massacre du printemps.” Never before had such a challenge been made to human ears.
- H. Moreno, Le Ménestrel, Paris, June 6, 1914
 
I’m not competent to discuss Le Sacre du printemps as I have heard it only on the piano. But assuming…that Stravinsky is mechanism become music…I don’t want it…I’m bored with imitations of noises…and their monotonous cacophony.
- Deems Taylor, The Dial, New York, September, 1920

 
Of course, Le Sacre went on to become a modern classic and ever more popular over the years, thanks to orchestral concerts, recordings, and performances choreographed by such major figures as Leonide Massine, Maurice Bejart, Kenneth MacMillan, Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Mary Wigman, and Pina Bausch. It was also widely promoted by Walt Disney’s use of the score in the 1940 film, Fantasia. Yet even this was not free of controversy. At first, Stravinsky was flattered to learn that Le Sacre was to be animated, but he was less than thrilled to learn that sections had been reordered, and the prehistoric visuals of dinosaurs and volcanoes did little to please him. Add to this the irony that Deems Taylor, who had criticized Le Sacre in 1920, was called upon to provide a spoken introduction and narration in the film, though the introduction only appeared in the road show version and was later cut.
 
In 1987, the Joffrey Ballet (right) presented a restored Le Sacre, employing the set and costume designs by Roerich and the original choreography by Nijinsky, long thought lost. The ballet had only received eight performances before it was withdrawn, and because Diaghilev split with Nijinsky and had the 1920 production choreographed by Massine, the Nijinsky version was not seen for decades. But due to the efforts of director Robert Joffrey, dance historian Millicent Hodson, and her husband, art historian Kenneth Archer, the resurrected ballet was staged to critical acclaim, and in subsequent years was revived by the Paris Opéra and Kirov ballets.
 
The Joffrey Ballet’s complete reconstruction of Le Sacre du printemps is presented below.
 

 
 
No collection of anecdotes of Le Sacre du printemps would be complete without a recommendation of some important recordings. Below are several excellent renditions, though this list is far from exhaustive. While each offers a different understanding of Stravinsky’s masterpiece, and all will continue to be argued over by fans, there is never a last word on Le Sacre and no definitive reading. So take your pick!
 
Grand Orchestre Symphonique; Pierre Monteux, conductor (1929) - Part I. Introduction

 
Concertgebouw Orchestra; Colin Davis, conductor (1976) - Part I. Augurs of Spring

 
New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor (1958) - Part I. Ritual of Abduction

 
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Ernest Ansermet, conductor (1957) - Part I. Games of the Rival Tribes

 
Boston Symphony Orchestra; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (1972) - Part I. Dance of the Earth

 
Chicago Symphony; Seiji Ozawa, conductor (1968) - Part II. Introduction

 

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Yuri Simonov, conductor (1993) - Part II. Mystic Circles of the Young Girls

 
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; Esa-Pekka Salonen (2006) - Part II. Glorification of the Chosen Victim

 
Columbia Symphony Orchestra; Igor Stravinsky, conductor (1960) - Part II. Summoning of the Ancients

 
Kirov Orchestra; Valery Gergiev, conductor (2001) - Part II. Sacrificial Dance

 
 
Have fun sampling, and by all means make Le Sacre du printemps a staple of your listening, if you haven’t already. But don’t forget, if the weather’s nice, be sure to turn off the stereo and go outside. That’s what spring is really for!