Have you ever clicked on an article to read because of its interesting title? Read a book because of its cover (despite the well known saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover”)? I sure have! I tend to read books, watch movies, and listen to music because of preconceived notions based on their titles.
I recently saw a title to an article called “Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring: Still Re-fertilizing the Earth as 100” (and article in the 76th volume of the American Record Guide) and of course I had to click on the title to see what the author could possibly mean by a ballet “re-fertilizing the earth”.
The author Susan Brodie, speaks of the much debated riot that happened at the performance, the choreography of Nijinsky, and of course the stunning music itself by Stravinsky. She explores several modern-day performances of the Rite of Spring, how the music is accepted today and what efforts are made to present it in a way similar to that of the premiere. A famous piece, such as the Rite of Spring, which is heard so often, undoubtedly influences not merely our culture, but most importantly our current and future musicians and their musical output.
Like all musicians, Stravinsky was influenced by his world-view, life experiences, and music he heard. Don Freund once wrote, “Composition is learned by discovering that musical ideas can be experienced in a variety of ways, and that new musical ideas can be created by reconfiguring learned materials in new contexts”
Isn’t that the beauty of music? Hearing new ideas that touch our soul instantly? Or maybe even odd ideas that cause us to think a little harder? I think perhaps that is the reason people reacted so loudly to the premiere of the Rite of Spring.. the newness of the music surprised them.
Many times new music is rejected because it is not what we are comfortable with. Often as humans we get stuck in our comfort level. I, however, am personally grateful for the new ideas in music…without them music would surely become a dead art.
