Keeping Score | Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (FULL DOCUMENTARY AND CONCERT)

Almost a hundred years ago, Igor Stravinsky shocked the Western world with his ballet score, The Rite of Spring, a highly charged and confrontational piece. Michael Tilson Thomas goes behind the scenes in St. Petersburg and Paris to discover the spirit in which it was written and the drama of the opening night that shook the music world to its foundations.
Bonus Features:
Full-length concert performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and music from The Firebird by the San Francisco Symphony originally filmed in high-definition 16:9 widescreen and 5.1 surround sound.
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[@bighugejake]

"I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet... But your kids are gonna love it!"

[@KariIzumi1]

I understood that reference 👌👍

[@danielramirez7827]

Underrated comment…

[@clintgolub1751]

😂

[@stevrgrs]

Ok Marty. Calm down :P

[@PunchDrunk-NYCKid]

Like Mahler's wish that he could conduct one of his pieces 50 years after his death - a time he hoped that his work would be popular and understood (saw it on this channel's Mahler documentary).

[@1cultural]

Debussy and Ravel were in the audience and wildly praised it.

[@johnberkley6942]

The ruckus over the Rite obliterated Debussy's Jeux, itself a terrific work. Perhaps a rueful recognition that Debussy was passing the baton to the new enfant terrible.

[@chrisgordon6599]

No, Debussy did not like it. He did not understand what Stravinsy was trying to achieve and although he realise that this was something entirely new, he thought Stravinsky's music had gone far too far (into the future) to achieve its objective - which of course it had. Also, you have to remember that Stravinsky both in this score and in Firebird and Petruska, too, relies on subjective musical gestures which do not have much meaningful structural or architectural use as a way forward for other composers. He wasn't interested in teaching others as Schönberg, his sort of great rival, spent doing for all of his career.

[@spinozo.official]

@@chrisgordon6599 What's your source for the fact that Debussy did not like the piece? As far as I know Debussy congratulated Stravinskij after the premiere, and they went on to become kind of good friends. I'm studying the subject because I'm writing a thesis on the Ballet Russes, so if you have a different source I'd be excited to see it! :)

[@chrisgordon6599]

@@spinozo.official Hi! There is a quote of Debussy in Lucy Moore's book about Nijinsky published by Profile Books in 2013. It is on page 142. Lucy Moore repeats an account by Misia Sert, who was a friend and benefactor of Diaghilev"s, telling of Debussy's reaction to Le Sacre du printemps as he was sitting in her box at the first performance. Misia Sert wrote: "With a sad and anxious face, [Debussy] whispered, ' It's terrifying. I don't understand it.'" However, Debussy had heard the music performed by Stravinsky on the piano and he was apparently anxious to hear how Stravinsky was going to orchestrate the ballet score but, as I said in my first comment, he didn't understand what Stravinsky was trying to achieve with his 'grotesque and terrifying' orchestration. I have seen other reported comments of Debussy's elsewhere but I would have to look through all my books on this subject to find them. I am sure you can do that if you are writing a thesis on the Ballets Russes. Count Harry Kessler is also a good source for the general reaction of the audience at the first performance of Le Sacre du printemps.

[@JoeParrish]

@@chrisgordon6599 I think you're confusing some of his words for dislike. Terrifying and difficult to understand are both critical to the piece, that's not the same as thinking it bad or not liking it. Debussy didn't just hear the music performed on piano by Stravinsky, he played from the score with Stravinsky when the latter visited him at his home in the months leading up to the premiere. I can't remember the exact quote but Debussy said something about being extremely excited to hear the premiere, even making some analogy of it being like a sweet he couldn't wait to open or something. You'll find the quote in Peter Hill's book on The Rite I think. Seems to me he was more fascinated and intrigued by the piece, not that he just didn't like it

[@EsmaelM-ze8nk]

This is not "documentary" it's more than that!! Sir you are best history teller i never ever see such valuable informative documentary!! Your energy is just unexplainable beautiful ❤❤❤

[@InCAdocumentaries]

We're so proud to have worked with MTT and the San Francisco Symphony to create this series, between 2002 and 2011. I hope it's available to everyone, worldwide, for as long as possible. David Kennard, InCA Productions, San Francisco.

[@akshaygowrishankar7440]

Thank you for helping to make this widespread to everyone who might not like the piece. Michael Tilson Thomas and Leonard Bernstein's interpretations are wonderful and inspired, and through the grace of the beautiful people who make it available, it's possible for anyone to "keep score" :)

[@rr7firefly]

I too want to thank you. This program is one of the best examinations of a world classic. MTT is a fantastic host and conductor. It is a wonderful surprise to hear a segment from "The Firebird" with "The Rite." Yes, yes!

[@InCAdocumentaries]

@Richard Williams Thank you, Richard. Please tell your friends! We feel that this series of films was never sufficiently promoted by PBS or the SF Symphony. I hope the 9 films will stand the test of time. David Kennard InCA Productions

[@charleslaine]

It's such a well done series. Fabulous work!

[@charleslaine]

@Richard Williams yeah the camera work is outstanding. I think it's the best I've ever seen of an orchestral performance.

[@jackfletcher1000]

For years i could not appreciate this wonderful music but I have been cured and see the beauty, At Last.

[@logancarlton9522]

You can still feel Stravinsky's influence in modern film scores, especially anything done by the late James Horner. The raw, violently gritty and bombastic notes, piercing and punching through. They help convey the action and violence and horror without a word. This piece is amazing and more influential than a lot of people realize

[@Tyrell_Corp2019]

Ironically, Stravinsky was invited to create a Hollywood score but his music was turned down. Scoring a film is a very unique talent in understanding the marriage of sound and image that not even he could get right. That said - I just LOVE all the early scores influenced by Igor. IMHO, Bernard Herrmann did it best.

[@ajanimation8239]

I think you can tell that John Williams and Hans Zimmer took some influence as well.

[@coloraturaElise]

@@ajanimation8239 And Leonard Bernstein.....there's some West Side Story near the beginning of part 2, when the muted trumpets and horns go back and forth, right before the 11 tympani hits....it's from the dance at the gym scene.

[@richardwhitfill5253]

The Rite of Spring is still ahead of its time a hundred years on. Richard in Dallas

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

The key to the revolutionary aspect of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring can be summed up in one word.... Rhythm. Nobody had heard rhythms like this before in 1913. He changed the future.

[@quinnlewis2003]

@mark heyne definant influences!

[@shonnyno]

For me some macedonian rhythms are much harder, not only due to asymmtrical (mixed) meters but with addition of sincopations and with the 3 grouping filled by quadruplet and/or the 2 grouping filled in by triplets. Instead in Stravinsky the difficult rhythms are the melody (and the contrary). I had a lot difficulties with macedonian rhythms, even id much more slower (250BPM) than pontiakà rhythms (603BPM).

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

@@shonnyno Brilliant comment Andrea.

[@pablojosecardenaspalomino7184]

Hola a todos. He escuchado muchas veces estas dos obras y cada vez encuentro nuevas emociones al oirlas. Este documental (que debería llamarse clase magistral) es excelente desde todo punto de vista. Las explicaciones del director MTT permiten tener el acercamiento a la obra del compositor, de la mano de los músicos de la orquesta, de una forma didáctica y clara. La producción y la fotografía del material muestran, en su momento, la interacción de los instrumentos en cada uno de los pasajes de las obras. La interpretación de la orquesta y la majestuosidad del recinto son magníficas. Muchas gracias por difundir tan bellas obras del intelecto humano. Más de cien años han pasado después de su estreno y aún sigue (y seguirá por la eternidad) tocando fibras y sentimientos profundos de nuestra humanidad. ¡Qué Viva La Buena Música! Saludos desde Bogotá, Colombia.

[@deetrizzle1040]

When I was a young child, my father purchased 3 record albums for me, for the purpose of introducing me to classical music. One was Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov. Second was Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev narrated by the lovely voiced Mia Farrow. (Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra was on the flip side). The third record and the one my dad told me to play first was The Rite of Spring. I instantly fell in love with the recording and I might have played that record everyday for just over half my childhood. I look back at this and have come to the conclusion that there was no better record my father could of introduced me too as my thirst for more music brought me to the vast musical library I listen to today. Bravo Igor! Bravo!

[@DJS11811]

Cool Dad.

[@RanBlakePiano]

deetrizzle1040 conductor ?

[@deetrizzle1040]

@@RanBlakePiano The late Antal Dorati.

[@RendHeaven]

Scheherazade is goated!!

[@caglimedia]

that's proper education! Congrats to your dad!

[@jorgeurzuaurzua4011]

I have loved the Rite of Spring for 70 years, starting with the fight of the dinosaurs in Disney's Fantasia that I saw as a small kid. I have followed it on every concert I was able to attend to the point of almost memorizing it. As everybody else, I knew of the scandal of its premiere in 1913. I was impressed by the documentary and concert by the San Francisco Orchestra and Michael Tilson Thomas. I am very grateful por the didactic explanations and musical examples that have illuminated my perception of a work I thought I knew rather well before. I got a new understanding of its complexities and revolutionary musical approach. Thanks for this learning and enjoyable experience.

[@gangamecker8221]

Herzlichen Dank , auf das , was MUSIK sein kann ! ❤❤ Welch ein wilder Frühling , der sich bedächtigt entfaltet . Und durch die LÜFTE das blaue Band duftet . Frühling mit Herz und Lunge atem das Sein . 🙂🎶🎶🎶🎶😮😢😢

[@jandrewscali]

Just wonderful!! Maestro MTT, please be well!

[@claudioalexenrique]

Excellent documentary about this revolutionary Stravinsky’s piece.

[@mozartmahler61]

Michael Tilson Thomas: absolutely BEST Sacre, in my opinion!

[@Robert...Schrey]

with Barenboim.

[@daikiraihatesu]

MTT is too polite and well mannered to capture the essence of The Rite, I prefer a later-in-life Bernstein, as he was worn and battered by chemicals and grief- a much more animalistic personality respectively, which fits The Rite. Not to say MTT isn’t the master of many other pieces currently, and I hope he knows how deep his impact was, especially with documentaries like this. I know his health is declining, yet his performances will stay forever.

[@PhilippeRR1]

Thank you Maestro Tilson Thomas for this wonderfully educational series!

[@cheri238]

Stravinsky!!!!!❤"The Rite of Sping." There is a artistry of history involved in this life of Igor Stravinsky. Amazing composer!!!! Thank you, for this.

[@usaroman]

This level of pedagogy is outstanding and the performance wunderschön 🎉🎉🎉

[@jeffsmith1798]

Presently a recording of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, (conducted by Igor Stravinsky) is hurtling through interstellar space. How fitting!

[@waltermuller1262]

THE iconic piece of music of the 20th century.

[@valdassteponaitis6133]

The piece, that changed my life forever :) And great composers/conductors like Stravinsky, Bernstein, Michael Tilson Thomas did so. Thank you, Mr. Michael and god may bless you. I pray health for you.

[@BernardoBernalMusic]

One of my favorite chapters of Keeping Score. God bless you! Thank you

[@slavaaa100]

Миша, замечательная работа. Всем исполнителям спасибо!!!

[@patriciafantoli1919]

You and Salonen make it clear to conduct Stravinsky and Shostakovich, the actual conducting is more energetic. Adaptability for a conductor is a must! Thank you for this series.

[@violinbeatful]

Maestro Igor Stravinsky that mesmerizing for the intensity of passion, the expressiveness, and the sensitivity to nuance !!!! And the intensity of focus isrenowned and for his wonderful capacity to love and cherish is renowned as well , bountiful source of inspiration !

[@SophieLeung-du9we]

This is so good….WOW!!!😮❤

[@albertopa58]

Thank you so much Michael. This was a great documentary

[@mattspitz6837]

MTT's anecdote about meeting and playing for Stravinsky is pure gold...great presentation, much love to a great one.

[@leandrohernanbardach3874]

Me planto en mi idioma y expreso desde él. Hoy los recursos técnicos para registrar un concierto sinfónico se han desarrollado en forma increíble. Pero en este caso están al servicio de una orquesta que ha crecido y madurado a niveles que conmueven. El Maestro Tilson Thomas tiene una presencia magnífica y hace sonar a Stravinsky en todo su esplendor. La Consagración es una obra única. Nos la puede comparar con nada. Y esta introducción en la que el mismísimo MTT nos lleva de San Petesburgo a Paris y describe la noche del estreno es impecable. Gracias por la impresionante emoción que transmite este video.

[@Richard-b5r9v]

Timpanist David Herbert later went to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where Ricardo Mutti was it's Chief conductor

[@michalkovac8382]

One of the BEST Rite of Spring what i ever heard

[@ClassicsExplained]

Fantastic documentary

[@zennyx_le_pouti_renarbre]

WOOOOOOOW... This is the video about Sacre du Printemps i've been searching for years !👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@federicalolli9913]

This should have millions of views. FANTASTIC. Thank you so much.

[@vilmarivera6615]

Hola disfrutando esta obra de arte musical con la Sinfónica de San Francisco gracias saludos desde Chile

[@dedede5586]

this is a solid contender for one of the greatest videos i have ever seen on youtube

[@superbowsermatt4432]

Stravinsky was a genius to have come up with this and nothing can change just how great and influential this music is.

[@francisgallagher4783]

These documentaries are so illuminating and evoke a lot of passion for classical music.

[@fideldely5988]

this video is heritage of mankind. thanks you so much for this! 😍

[@nicolasferri304]

gracias por todo este arte educativo y musical, a disfrutar escuchando aprendiendo y sintiendo

[@bdfonseca]

Spectacular piece of mankind history!

[@SERGIONETOGmusica650]

beautiful

[@mrjones7222]

Surely, John William's score for 'War Of The Worlds" took inspiration from Igor Stravinsky!? Amazing documentary❤

[@shadabViolinisit]

Amazing🌹Thanks a lot🙏Love from Iran💚❤️🤍

[@wolfgangresch1650]

What a blessing for generations! I have all the DVD's!! Thank you Maestro!! And SFO, absolutely AWESOME!!🙏🙏😇😇😇

[@andresmata4949]

I am ever grateful for these kind of historical videos thank you MTT 1

[@frandrepol7204]

Wonderful documentary with the charm and charisma of Tilson Thomas and great contributions of the orchestra musicians… thank you for the treat!

[@variegatus]

As this is playing I see in my mind new mountains thrusting up violently out of the ground. Molten lava bursting through the universe. And the rise and fall of dinosaurs. It's the brilliant use of this music in Disney's 1940 movie Fantasia. Was quite a shock to see and learn the original dance and story many years later. Oh, what a wonderful video this is. Thank you MTT and the SF Symphony!

[@uxcjek4252]

very good video, Igor is the best

[@halnwheels]

Keeping Score is such an fantastic series of performances, but this is just incredible! Michael, I enjoy watching you bring out the talent of your musicians as they play Le Sacre. And then your explanations and insights of the piece give it a whole new life for me. Watching the two musicians handle the large cymbal is pure joy. Each member of the orchestra is giving all the life force that they have into this piece. And that's what it is, isn't it? I wonder if there were any in the audience back in 1913 who realized just what was being portrayed. I don't think I'll ever get tired of listening to it. I feel very fortunate to have been taken in by this.

[@ArthurPay-y8f]

My favourite!

[@ghendar]

I first heard The Rite of Spring while taking a Music 100 level class in college. The professor gave all the students cassette tapes (hey, it was the 90s) of all the music we would listen to for the semester. One of the pieces was The Rite of Spring. I was blown away. The first thing that popped into my head when I heard it was, "this is the heavy metal of classical music"

[@ChrisWildman-pe4qh]

Or maybe heavy metal was merely in its shadow.

[@Clivejvaughan]

Terrific - educational & inspiring; thanks for improving 'isolation' !

[@johnwade7430]

This is an excellent video - thanks for this.

[@antigraphein943]

Ok. We need more beautiful docs like this.

[@gilbertdaroy6080]

What an excellent production.

[@mmwiz]

Simply Awesome.

[@howardleekilby7390]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@truBador2]

So good. I heard lines throughout I've never heard before. Thanks for this great production.

[@alexisporfiriadis]

This is a great documentary on Rite, a great conductor and a great orchestra. Congratulations and thank you for this amazing video!

[@andresmata4949]

Nicholas Rorerietch has a design museum of his life work in Queens New York! He was the costume and stage designer for the Rite of Spring

[@herrickinman9303]

Nicholas Roerich aka Nikolai Rerikh ?

[@ogaitu5661]

I love this piece since I was very young. It's absolutely marvelous and this documentary is great thanks.

[@drjjpdc]

I have Maestro Thomas DG Rite of Spring. on LP from the '70s. One of the great recordings.

[@srothbardt]

Excellent film direction. Follows the music very closely

[@BytomGirl]

Love this documentary.

[@curtisgrindahl446]

These are BRILLIANT. This is the kind of introduction every music lover would want to a piece. Thank you MTT. I wonder if your next venture will be to teach us exactly as you do here... though you won't have the SF Symphony to present the music. I love these pieces... Keeping the Score.

[@MoondyMusic]

Excited to watch this!

[@stickom]

movie 00:00, concert 1:09:15 phenomenal!

[@lrzezak]

All this is so amazing! Michael Tilson Thomas, the orchestra, the story, everything. Thanks a lot for uploading this precious thing and letting us to get into this experience.

[@robsonluis3346]

Excellent!

[@daviddarley]

Bravo!

[@luzrodas519]

Magic, astonishing! Thank you!

[@annhughes6882]

Thank you! Thank you!!! for this spell-binding series. I've learned so much -- and my soul has been filled with these stellar performances and amazing video that adds to the remarkableness of the music.

[@Nimatarsetar]

What an incredible video. Thanks a lot!

[@BertoldBR74Roux]

I love le sacre! Great series!

[@detectivehome3318]

2:07 RIP Julie Anne, Cor Anglais You will be missed

[@aristocatsfan6700]

I miss Julie. I met Julie Ann Giacobassi Hall (married for 50 years to Zach Hall before she died) through my uncle Todd back in 2001 when I was a baby. My uncle Todd invited my family and I to go to San Francisco Symphony and meet all the people who played with the symphony. Without my uncle Todd speaking up about the abuse he endured from 1972-1980 by Ronald Carroll MacDonald, that Ronald Carroll MacDonald would have still been free and would have been abusing more children until he died and I would not have met so many symphony musicians.

[@Cornel1001]

That is a way to understand music !

[@apollosaturn5]

A lot of people criticize Alan Parker for copying Stravinsky's Rite of Spring for the soundtrack of Jaws 3D, especially "Dance of the Earth" and "The Sacrifice". But, that's what I love about it. You can sit and listen to both scores and listen to how Alan Parker places "Stravinsky" into the score.

[@pablopetidiercastro908]

Just brilliant. Thanks MTT. Bravo!

[@vinylrescueband2126]

Excellent video, well done.

[@prevalain]

Paris has a way of being extremely conservative. And not just Paris. I have a recording of Bruckner’s Fifth directed by Eugen Jochum in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, back on October 22, 1969: you can hear people booing the music. When I went to Mahler’s Fifth played for the first time in Bordeaux (back in 1988 I think it was), Alain Lombard conducting the ONBA, the first part of that concert had been Tchaikowsky’s Violin Concerto and the house was packed. When the Mahler symphony started in the second part of the program, more than a third of the seats were empty. People had left: they weren’t ready for that kind of Music yet. Music follows a learning curve. I still haven’t reached the point where I can appreciate Pierre Boulez’s Marteau sans Maître… I hope to get there. But I can understand the raucous that went on at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées when the Rite of Spring was first played.

[@ColocasiaCorm]

So good

[@fareastmov]

Rimsky-Korsakov 04:28 St. Petersburg's Theater Arts Museum archives 07:08 Sergei Diaghilev 08:32 Firebird 10:21 Rite of Spring 13:13

[@subhrangsusengupta9954]

4'58" whose composition is it? What movement?

[@pianissimo5951]

1:41:33 oh that pause...

[@sawdustpile7105]

Breaks my heart to see and hear the late BIll Bennett.

[@aristocatsfan6700]

I miss him. I met Bill Bennett through my uncle Todd back in 2001 when I was a baby. My uncle Todd invited my family and I to go to San Francisco Symphony and meet all the people who played with the symphony. Without my uncle Todd speaking up about the abuse he endured from 1972-1980 by Ronald Carroll MacDonald, that Ronald Carroll MacDonald would have still been free and would have been abusing more children until he died and I would not have met so many symphony musicians.

[@TigrisVoice]

When I hear and see the performance of such extraordinary concerto and ballet music like the Rite of Spring I can see that human creativity and sublime beauty at the highest level can upsurge in any part of the world. American successfully have manipulated the mind of humankind to hate the Russians, and thus people do, but not everybody does, there are better educated people and honest that do not follow that manipulation and understand that the Russian people are not the evil beings that American have persuaded the shallow minds that they are. and we understand that Russians like any other people have good intentions can love other human beings and can produce wonderful works of art and can have compassion and be empathetic to human virtues. I celebrate the humanity of the Russians.

[@wjamyers]

10 out of 10 and I'm only 26 minutes in.

[@rdavis7114]

MTT is THE MAN for Stravinsky.

[@williamzavlaris4054]

MTT is a treasure!

[@ChromaticHarp]

Could it be as great as the Columbia Records recording of the Walmart Symphony Orchestra version?!

[@frandrepol7204]

Amazing link with Philip Glass

[@RC2214]

"Driven by pure gut feeling", was what made me think Stravinsky's compositions remind me of contemporary expressional dance where you express the feeling through movement just like in pieces of the music is expressed. For example. His music was used in the Ballet JEWELS which is Emerald, Ruby and Diamond

[@jazzporridge1506]

For those of us keeping score, may I point out that MTT has the grace to use an actual score in this one. I have a tremendous personal anecdote about this piece that involves a dancer for a change (*waves at Dame Monica*). But manners dictate I should wait until asked. How good does that room sound? Take a bow Symphony Hall and the recording engineers. Fabulous. Thank yous to all.

[@BrianBisetti]

I like anecdotes.

[@vittoriocena]

0:57 What a bizarre viola

[@sspdirect02]

This was the musical equivalent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was misunderstood at the time but soon is revered.

[@JacobDreamWorks921]

Walt Disney himself used that music piece in his 3rd feature film, Fantasia. The visuals that accompanied the music, is thrilling and electrifying.👍

[@davidmdyer838]

@@JacobDreamWorks921 He did so without Stravinsky's permission.

[@mitchellperilla739]

Now I understand why I couldn't buy Keeping Score on Amazon: they were meant to be here! 😅

[@musc.984]

Does anyone know the name of the piece being played at 3:18 ?

[@ZackSansing]

Little do most people watching this know that Mahler 9 would be played a week from this piece AND record it to be released on a CD. That the same man who played 2nd bass clarinet played just 3rd clarinet for Mahler 9. That Linda 1st flute, Tim 2nd, Robin 3rd, Barbara C 4th would all play flute, and Cathy Payne played piccolo the next week for Mahler 9. Payne’s and Lukas’s solo was beautiful in their Mahler 9 cd recording

[@ДанилаКоролёв-ю5х]

There are very few shots of the violin accompanist in the video. Is he a bad guy?

[@melaniamonicacraciun9900]

Oopie oopie yey fans it is Cat-urday meawouuuuu time for sharing such fluffy fluffy entertainment tips & never let any evil dare to harm you guys ❤❤

[@charleslaine]

The section at 1:00:34 is so beautiful. The cameras do an excellent of following the counterpoint and it just really makes it like you are sitting there in a personal concert performance. Why do I still have cable?