The BIZARRE Classical Music That Caused Riots

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[@CharlesCornellStudios]

LAST CALL for our Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale!! Our entire library for $99 ONLY through the end of today! cornellmusicacademy.com/blackfriday

[@gubbinsly]

You what would be awesome? You looking over Sky: Children of the Light! Such a great soundtrack!

[@kyoyaootori9174]

@@gubbinsly that would be sick

[@Ehh0.0]

I MISSSED THE SALE NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@Forward.Motion.Social]

@@Ehh0.0 You've still got today, my friend

[@AndrewAMartin]

It's interesting how the soundtrack to the first Mad Max movie, written by Brian May (not THAT Brian May, but the Australian film composer), sounds like Rite of Spring. Obviously a major influence. I learned part of Rite of Spring for marching band a lot of years ago, back when the movies were out, and I never really put the two together until now... Thinking back, it wasn't Rite of Spring I learned in marching band, it was The Firebird Suite...

[@gubbinsly]

Coincidentally, my family named one of my cats Stravinsky, and he was one of the weirdest freaking animals I’ve ever known. And then we named one Igor, and he was even weirder.

[@parsafarjammusic28]

The prophecy is true

[@igorleeck2027]

Man

[@CIO-Anims]

@@igorleeck2027 man

[@maverickoury8714]

Igor that Stravinsky and Tyler, The Creator weirdness

[@SALEENS7GTR5]

Coincidentally. Not ironically. The cats sound cute, though.

[@howimettheopera]

For us orchestra conductors, the Rite of Spring is one of the most challenging pieces in repertoire, a rite of passage, one could even say 🔥

[@suicidalkatt]

I was introduced to the piece from Fantasia and I'll never forget how amazing I thought it was and just how beautiful the moments can be and just how powerful the brass can just punch through the lines.

[@Bobbias]

I'm curious about what makes it difficult as a conductor? Like, are there parts that are difficult to remember, difficult to physically convey to the orchestra? (Ok, the time signature changes are pretty wild)

[@howimettheopera]

@@Bobbias it depends what level orchestra you are working with, an orchestra a bit under professional level could bring difficulties with tuning specially those bi-tonal chords, also with cues and entrances. But across all levels the time signature changes/ rhythmic aspects are really tough for us while conducting. Some sections go extremely fast with accents falling in very random places, and not only does the beat grouping changes constantly, also the beat duration within itself varies (mostly on 5/8 7/8 bars).During passages that have a constant percussive beat, on a level it is easier to play it as an individual orchestra member than to conduct it, because they just follow it horizontally and simply count silences without worrying where you are in the bar, whether as conductors must show the bar organisation which is different every single bar ( and very hard to memorise) On those particular sections, smart conductors will conduct small and sort of stay out of the way, because you could risk disturbing more than helping, since its so fast it can look hectic. Hope this makes sense!

[@Bobbias]

@@howimettheopera ahh, ok, yeah I see what you mean now. I'm not a musician (though I have some small experience from high school), but I have always loved music deeply. Partly I just don't fully understand what goes into conducting an orchestra, so it's a bit difficult to grasp what elements would be difficult. Your explanation definitely made sense though.

[@howimettheopera]

@@Bobbias of course, it is a very mysterious and strange looking thing that we do, which we also don't explain much. This is going to sound like a shameless plug, but I make lots of explainer videos on conducting, which are hopefully much clearer than the answer I just wrote ;)

[@magicpaul24]

Actually the riot was more about the dancing. This was really what choked at the time. The proof was that a little bit later (days or weeks)a concert with only the music was played and was actually appreciated (it was still weird but did not cause riots)

[@RaphaelFellowes]

Glad someone pointed this out

[@gbeachy2010]

Correct: IT WASN'T THE MUSIC! The dancing was scandalous for the time.

[@carbonghadius1408]

Very true. Stravinsky and this piece weren't the first or only hard-edged modernist of the time.

[@daniel5054]

@@carbonghadius1408 absolutely... The borders between epochs are fluid... My professor describes Le sacre du printemps as a "hinge piece" between romantic and modern.

[@otakurocklee]

Was it the dancing, or the whole sacrifice plot? I can imagine the whole plot of pagans sacrificing a girl would cause an uproar. The dancing just seems more annoying than anything else.

[@anneputseys4441]

Disney's Fantasia (the 1940's version) was my favorite movie since kindergarten and most of those pieces had a place in my heart long before I knew who wrote them or even that they weren't made for the film

[@andrebenites9919]

This video also brought me flashbacks of Fantasia

[@NaughtyAelf]

The interesting bit about Rites of Spring in Fantasia is that Disney rearranged the score! This infuriated Stravinsky, no end. I'll always wonder if Walt just enjoyed being an asshole, because he pulled some awful shit with performers.

[@dburt909]

Rite of Spring is my FAVORITE ballet of all time! The beats just slap so hard. I also love the Viola parts he wrote for us, especially in the Mystic Circles of the Young Girls where we have a sectional Solo. Absoleutky gorgeus.

[@dhpbear2]

I first heard "Rite of Spring' in the Disney film 'Fantasia' when I was 6-years-old. I remember it was played during the prehistoric scene showing dinosaurs and earthquakes!

[@jnm92]

Hell yeah. Blew my mind as a kid.. really formative

[@dhpbear2]

@@jnm92 IMHO, Disney hasn't done any better since this 1940 film!

[@mgman6000]

Just think what Disney would have if he knew an asteroid killed the dinosaurs

[@gubbinsly]

When you mentioned Debussy, I smiled, because some of his pieces truly feel like film score. Debussy is one of my favorite composers as well.

[@jesustovar2549]

It's 20th century music after all, cinema was already a thing in those days, many composers inmigrated to the United States to find jobs and even working in Hollywood, probably that's why I love it so much.

[@Del-Lebo]

Indeed!

[@andywellsglobaldomination]

Because Disney composers ripped off Debussy left and right... Any time you see a Disney short about the ocean, you're listening to a rip off of La Mer....

[@jesustovar2549]

"I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it" - Igor Stravinsky after the premiere of Rite of Spring, 1913. I love The Rite of Spring since I ever listened to it for the first time, and it was comparing several sections to John Williams' Star Wars' scores, there's a track from Star Wars called "Dune Sea" when C3PO is walking on Tatooine's Dune Sea which sounds pretty similar to introduction of Part 2 of the Rite: The Sacrifice, maybe that's why I love it so much, along with other composer which pieces sounds like film scores, including romantics like Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler and Richard Strauss, even The Planets by Holst (which George Lucas used as temp-tracks to give Williams an idea about how he wanted Star Wars to sound like), even the twelve tone music by Schoenberg, Berg and Webern which sounds like horror film music and it would be great to analyze that, it's 20th century music after all, cinema was already a thing in those days, many composers were inmigrating to the the United States to find jobs and even working in Hollywood. Also thanks for speaking about Einstein in the Beach, I remember watching it once I didn't knew I was viewing an opera.

[@grungeguy97]

Great use of that Back to the Future quote lol. Also I just listened to Dune Sea and I see what you mean! Love the way that all of these (Early/Radical) Modernist and Late Romantic influences are used in film music

[@chrishenry571]

I wanted to give this a thumbs up, but I wouldn't want to make it 70. Know what I mean, know what I mean, wink wink, nudge nudge...

[@maximmantra1429]

The riot was not caused by the music (as someone else here already pointed out); Rather, it was Vaslav Nijinsky's non-ballet "stomping" choreography that the audience raged about. Stravinsky had two very successful premieres of the Firebird and Petrushka in Paris just within 3 years prior to Rite, and the audience knew what to musically expect when attending the Rite premiere. Cool that there was an Einstein on the Beach shoutout, though.

[@iantaakalla8180]

Why was the stomping dancing so worthy of riot?

[@maximmantra1429]

​@@iantaakalla8180 Stomping (among other gestures in the choreography) is rather far from what traditional ballet dance was at the time. Even Petrushka and Firebird had more traditional choreography. The audience wanted something traditional, didn't get it, and then started yelling and booing, and well...rioting to the point where the music couldn't even be heard.

[@tulip5677]

@@maximmantra1429 They also might have objected to the depiction of a human sacrifice of the chosen girl. i personally find the part where they're circling around her with those animal-like motions (right before her solo) to be especially creepy

[@toprak3479]

@@tulip5677 The protest began far before they reached anywhere near the depictions of human sacrifice from what I gather, so very very unlikely that what you're saying is the case.

[@tulip5677]

@@toprak3479 Ok I believe you; really I was just casually speculating. Do you agree with @maximmantra1429 that Nijinsky's choreography caused the riot, not Stravinsky's music?

[@happycamperds9917]

13:45 I knew that King Crimson was inspired by Stravinsky but playing this on piano made me realize that this line shows up in Lark's Tongue in Aspic pt. 3. This is truly one of the most influential music pieces ever.

[@sepoyband2443]

love all of the pieces in the larks suite

[@yes_head]

There's not a prog musician who isn't a fan of Stravinsky. Steve Hackett (Genesis) lifted the rhythmic stomp of the Dances of the Young Girls section for a track on his one of his solo albums. Jon Anderson of Yes was directly influenced by Stravinsky. Yes used the end of the Firebird Suite to open their concerts for years.

[@waveboard111]

Tony levin actually made a version of the firebird with his band stick men

[@Chromexus]

Duke of Prunes By The Mothers in 66 or so quoted a section of the opening Bassoon part ( A bassoonist once told me that this part was challenging because it was outside normal range)

[@andywellsglobaldomination]

That would be Holst, not Stravinsky.

[@Zofer-1920]

A classical saxophonist, I’ve always been drawn to more “modern” works as our instrument is newer and only had transcriptions of older works to go by and many composed pieces for the saxophone featured newer harmonies, rhythm and themes. Philip Glass’ Concerto for Saxophone Quartet is so awesome. I might note, I love listening to minimalist music as I knit 🧶. The repetition and slow development matches the art of knitting perfect. At least for myself 😅

[@EpreTroll]

I happened to be privileged enough to hear the Rite of Spring in person this January in Amsterdam. Holy shit it was amazing. I've listened to it so many times but no HQ recording can compare to the real thing. It was an experience to remember.

[@noahfaber8265]

Please do a breakdown of the French impression era. Ravel and Debussy are some of the best. Writing nostalgic music without ever having heard it before

[@cloudkap]

YES

[@cloudyy9033]

Yesss

[@hemicuda2053]

+1

[@trilexfix]

how could it be nostalgic? Were you even alive when it came out?

[@noahfaber8265]

@@trilexfix “writing nostalgic music without ever having heard it before” I am trying to say that this music brings nostalgia of their (the listener’s) past through the music of French Romantic/Impressionist composers. And nostalgia is esoteric. I like movies that were made before I was born. I watched them as a kid after they came out. I have my own nostalgia for them because of my experience with them.

[@wellurban]

One of my favourite quotes about Einstein on the Beach was from a reviewer who said something like “Sure, your mind wanders during the 5 hours, but it wanders in a world created by the music”. I bought the CD in the early 90s, and though I’ve only listened to it once all the way through, parts of it are burned into my brain. Minimalism doesn’t seem as shocking to me now, possibly because it’s had a big influence on electronic music, particularly Reich.

[@cooldebt]

Great quote!

[@UnfriendlyGhostK]

My favourite piene in the impressionist or odd, strange genre of music is John Cage's 4'33. Thats not a meme either, framing the background noises of the auditorium or wherever you're performing the piece, to me, is very interesting. It's not just silence, the audience is the performer, providing music for themselves

[@th1inker55]

“I only hope his silences will become longer.” Quote attributed to Igor Stravinsky on John Cage's music and 4'33

[@danceswithdirt7197]

I love Philip Glass so much. I'm happy you played Einstein on the Beach.

[@daniel5054]

There is a great concertant recording by the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

[@holtenbarnwell5136]

My favorite part is the start of act two, The sacrifice. Which John Williams essentially used as the Dune sea music in A New Hope.

[@saramaynerich4398]

Leonard Bernstein must have drawn a lot of inspiration from Rite of Spring. It seems pretty related to West Side Story.

[@expertizer]

Not only Westside story - an American in Paris has also parallels to the rite of spring

[@RaymondHng]

Search KZbin for "Stravinsky - Le Sacre du printemps - The Rite of Spring - rehearsal - prova - Leonard Bernstein" and watch him rehearsing _The Rite of Spring_ . He said to the trombones, "No good. It doesn't make me sick. I want to feel sick."

[@Max-jf5vu]

I've come to really love the Rite of Spring! At least as an orchestral cello player, it was super intense to learn for the first time, but by the time you've performed it once or twice it's a thrilling, satisfying experience to nail all the crazy time signatures, stabs, and runs!

[@endicot1949]

I was literally raised on The Rite of Spring. As child it became sort of a lullaby as my father would often play a recording of Rite after I was put to bed and I would fall asleep to Stravinsky. BTW, I also love Steve Reich especially Music for 18 Musicians.

[@olivernp7515]

Also, Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin was immediately banned after its permiere because of its dark subject matter- the entire piece of music is about the usage of a female prostitute to entice men to steal their money, until one man (the mandarin) becomes obsessed with the woman, and basically he ends up dead at the end. But it conveys this story so well and some of it could pass as metal music..

[@AshArAis]

In college we had to go to at least 10 concerts a year, and 4th year rep was modern like Reich and Glass. Music tech concerts too. Some of it was about pushing boundaries; some was about testing patience; breaking through the wall like the mentality of a marathon. Stockhausen's Mantra was a brilliant live experience. The music tech that accidentally played their piece at half speed was hilarious, he noticed it after 5 mins and restarted it. There was only one experience where I went in with an open mind and I was nothing but angry by the end. I really tried. I really wanted to be engaged. It's so interesting that Stravinsky was considered to be like that; it's beautiful!

[@trilexfix]

I think you mean 10 concerts a semester, thats how it was in my music school days

[@joisi4523]

I think you should check out Charles Ives, particularly Central Park in the Dark. It was composed a full seven years before The Rite of Spring, yet has a middle part that’s about as chaotic and insane as Stravinsky’s work. He was truly ahead of his time!

[@otherkorean]

My list of top 5 American composers includes Ives, Glass, and Zappa. The other two I keep open depending on my mood.

[@IndependentMind115]

I remember as a 13-year-old kid just learning to play the violin and learning to play The Rite of Spring. I studied it, recorded it from Fantasia on a cassette tape, tried to find the sheet music, couldn't find the sheet music without emptying my piggy bank, created my own sheet music, bought two CDs, and then kept practicing. Even now with the actual sheet music, I can still barely play it.

[@sihplak]

If I remember correctly, what caused the riot with the Rite of Spring actually didn't involve the music at all, but rather, was the choreography and costuming, since the Rite of Spring is a ballet, not simply a piece of music.

[@joelhahn2501]

For another conjunction of "strange" orchestral music with movie soundtracks, try the pieces by Ligeti that Kubrick used on the iconic 2001 soundtrack.

[@joelhahn2501]

Penderecki is another composer of non-traditional classical music (such as Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima) whose work later got picked up for use in movies, such as The Exorcist and The Shining.

[@equolizer]

You could make a video on the "Skandalkonzert" in Vienna also in 1913 conducted by Arnold Schönberg (who later developed the 12-tone technique). The music in this concert was also very experimental, the audience couldn't handle it either and in the ensuing riot the concert organizer slapped one of the audience members. One attending critic later dubbed the slap "the most harmonious sound of the evening". Here's the wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skandalkonzert

[@ChristopherNelson42]

4:06 I will always know this as the piece that the DCI corps Carolina Crown used as their opener in 2013, the only year that they have won, and the only show ever to get a perfect score for music.

[@Claude1Rochon]

''and it's ironically providing the perfect soundtrack for all of the chaos'' i just LOVE this !!! thank you for being here on YT man !

[@טלקומיסרוב]

Talk about Alban berg’s opera Wozzeck, it has very strange harmonies and very cool cord progressions

[@erik1993]

Out of context but I find myself going back to the Hook 1991 soundtrack every now and then its just pure magic

[@DrStrangefate]

Presenting the Hook is regularly on my spotify Playlists. I love it so much.

[@shlatekkin]

Harry Potter soundtrack reminds me of Hook.

[@cyborgmetropolis7652]

I did a research paper on The Rite of Spring in college. I read reviews from people in the audience and interviews with those who worked with the composer and the inner circle. Immediately after the performance. Stravinsky and crew went to a restaurant to sulk about a dismal reception and a few contemporary reports exist. I feel that is that it wasn’t a riot at all but an audience heckling an unexpected “ridiculous”spectacle with comically bad dancing (for which none of the choreography survived) silly costumes, and “terrible” dissonant music (that’s me reading between the lines). At some point Stravinsky and publicist began fostering the idea that the music caused a riot rather than a bored audience making their own entertainment. A lie travels around the world ten times in the time it takes the truth to get its pants on.

[@hraun1234]

Would love to read your paper. I did the Harvard short course on Rite of Sping and would love to read more. Can you share a link?

[@hugobouma]

I believe the Rite was a masterfully executed publicity stunt by Diaghilev, with Stravinsky's assistance. They put on a show where all aspects (not just the music, but also choreography, costumes, staging, the overall "pagan" theming) were consciously provocative to the conservative audience, and were eager enough to play up the "riot" story in the press that we still know about it more than a century later. The result of course was that all subsequent performances were sold out ;)

[@Top_Toasti]

I remember my band professor had us play excerpts of this in high school and it was infamous to the students because none of us wanted to play it and no one believed his story of the riot. Hearing the beginning solo still makes us shudder.

[@Del-Lebo]

Right of Spring is one of my favorite works!!!!!!! That uncomfortable "work" to understand the zone. The sonic dissonance and oddity do get into your brain and you transmogrify into the auditory bliss!!! Like Richard D James, and early Laurie Anderson.

[@Sheffield6688]

My son and I were there at le théâtre des Champs-Élysées on May 29, 2013 at 8:00 pm, exactly 100 years later to the minute with Gergiev conducting the Mariinksy. The President of France was in the audience seated near Pierre Boulez about 50 feet away from us and Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer were in the front row and to the left. Daria Pavlenko was excellent as the terrified Chosen One. I kept thinking of the ghosts of the attendees in that famous riot around me, 100 years earlier. Musically I will never experience anything greater than this 40 minutes for the rest of my life.

[@bill_o_t_cotter]

I first heard the rite of spring when I saw Pina Bausch's double bill contemporary dance piece, 'The Rite of Spring' and 'Cafe Muller'. Learning about the chaos that he caused is pretty amusing as Pina also created a lot of uproar with the dancing she choreographed to Stravinsky's music - the power of art is pretty poignant with this music for sure :)

[@Lars_808]

Oh man! I wasn't expecting you to cover Steve Reich. What a pleasant surprise - his musical works got me through many a long night of studying throughout high school and college.

[@adumbusername1440]

electric counterpoint is absolute class

[@michaelclements5793]

John Williams would be nowhere without Stravinsky and Holst. In Star Wars Episode IV, the early scene where the droids are in the desert on Tatooine, the music is almost directly lifted from the Rite of Spring, the Introduction to Act II.

[@andywellsglobaldomination]

Stravinsky, Holst, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Seilm Palmgrin and a host of composers - many Finnish - most people don't know. Let's remember that "John Williams" is a creation of STAR WARS, because nobody remembers Johnny Williams, the composer DADDY-O, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and THE TOWERING INFERNO. We only know him as John Williams, and John Williams' style is derived from ripping off serous composers.

[@DJTI99]

Love Stravinsky. A few years ago I got to see the Boston Pops playing The Firebird Suite at Tanglewood. Just blown away. As far as other music from that time period, how about any of Luigi Russolo's music? Or if you want more orchestral, Lili Boulanger's D’un suir triste? I recently saw the Yale Symphony do a great performance of that piece. My date and I were transfixed.

[@lassi6547]

wow - that piece from Stravinsky literally was hair raising experience with tears coming to my eyes; and i was listening to it with an ipad speaker. imagine being in the concert hall!

[@Dancarnate]

Rite of Spring was one of the pieces I had to learn for conducting as part of my Music Theory course. I remember the first time I heard it, it blew my mind cause of the time signature changes that are so frequent. Took me back, thank you for covering it!

[@clumsiii]

Appreciate this historical perspective. Not only is Stravinsky's influence apparent in film, the first segment played here at 5:55, reminds me of a french industrial band with this song from the nineties: The Young Gods: "Les Enfants" at the two minute, 20 second mark. To my ear it's clear Stravinsky inspired The Young Gods, and/or their collaborators *also the whole bombastic rising french horn theme and drums continues at the end for the big rise

[@The_Musical_Cartograph]

I just want to see a cinematic rendition of Stravinsky, Ravel and Debussy : sitting side by side on the premiere, going full stink face like a bunch of bros at a concert as the polychords start to rumble ! x) Also : You absolutely need to make a "Listen..." video on the different version of One Winged Angel from FFVII over the years it's like the Rite of Spring on steroids !

[@kevycanavan]

A cool detail not mentioned in the video is the last chord of the piece spells out “dead” The ballet is about a young tribeswoman being sacrificed to the gods and dances herself to death in a ritual.

[@Kurtlane]

A few additional notes: The riot was caused by the choreography at least as much as by the music. After the first performance ended in a riot, every following performance did as well. Ar some point lots of people were coming not to see the ballet or listen to music, but to riot. As a woman spectator asked, "Excuse me, do you know when the riot starts?" Bella Bartok's ballet "The Miraculous Mandarin," first performed in 1926 in Cologne, also caused a riot.

[@kg1292]

Einstein on the Beach was arranged for a Drum Corp show, E=mc2 in 2013 by Carolina Crown and won with a perfect score! I did not know where it originally came from but now it makes sense as to why it was so striking. Coincidentally the Blue Devils did Rite of Spring

[@josiahrogers1728]

I did rite of spring in firebird in my high school band, also e=mc2 is one of my favorite CC shows

[@cloudkap]

There's a whole episode that could be dedicated to Reich and phasing/phase music- using physical reel to reel tape I think. It's a huge component of his work.

[@els1f]

This is one of my favorite pieces of music period! I listen to different recordings of it all the time and something about it is just perfect to my mind

[@MWSays]

I remember hearing this for the first time as a kid in Fantasia. Terrified me but I couldn’t stop listening to it. I recommend checking out some work by Masakatsu Takagi, specifically his album Kagayaki. Amazing pianist and his use of melody and harmony is gorgeous and unconventional

[@mrequena1408]

Carolina Crown preformed excepts of Einstein on the Beach in 2013 and it was very interesting to preform, one of the hardest shows I’ve ever preformed but man it was wild and fun to be apart of. Ironically the Blue Devis preformed the ReRite of Spring the same year, it was such a cool take of the piece and by far my favorite show they have preformed.

[@R.Instro]

Love that he followed it up with a contrast from Phantom Regiment 1989 🤣 (the Dvorak)

[@ErlendFlatin]

I went to the premiere of Steve Reich's Radio Rewrite, which is basically a reworking of two Radiohead songs. That was an awesome experience, Reich also went on stage to perform Clapping Music

[@charlescoleman5509]

Saint Saens was also in the audience for the premiere of Rite of Spring. When he heard the opening bassoon solo, he asked the man next to him “What instrument is that?”. The man said “That’s a bassoon sir.” Saint Saens then retorted “If that’s a Bassoon, then I’m a baboon!”

[@angelaknebel4156]

😁 love that quote!!!

[@SoulCore413]

Oh, how delightfully witty.

[@stuf159]

I’ve heard many people say Rite of Spring could be inspired by Scriabin’s Prometheus.

[@francissadleir9805]

This piece is my favourite work in the history of western classical music. The pinnacle of musical expression, and inspiration.

[@francissadleir9805]

and who could forget the most innovative orchestration ever. I regularly listen to the rite with the score and learn something new every time.

[@pogeman2345]

My favorite anecdote that's definitely apocryphal is that Saint-Saens was also in attendance, and during the bassoon solo he asked the person next to him "What instrument is that?". When the person next to him replied that it was a bassoon, he said "That's a bassoon? Then I'm a baboon!"

[@BBRocker75]

"Einstein on the Beach" is one of the greatest music achievment in opera history. It changed my whole life.

[@samanthaolsen3892]

I played this recently with my college orchestra, it was legit the most difficult piece I’ve played! Super fascinating though, thanks for the video!

[@cherenkov_blue]

On one hand, I love Rite of Spring. on the other... _Stravinsky why did you write the strings like that_

[@PADARM]

and Disney's 1940 Fantasia Movie includes The Rite of Spring and It works so well. Disney was ahead of his time.

[@chong2389]

I recall a performance in the early 2000's by the NYP - Messiaen's "Éclairs sur l'Au- Delà" More and more people in the "expensive" seats (probably subscription holders) got up and left with every movement. IAs Rodney Dangerfield often said:: "Tough crowd. Tough crowd". Me? I touchingly enjoyed it! But then, I'm a Messiaen fan. Love 'The Rite' too! Thank you for exposing your viewers to it!

[@kiddpenn]

I used to watch Disney's Fantasia over & over again when I was like a baby and the Rite of Spring section was always one of my favorite parts! Funny that what was so weird to audiences was just normal film music to my baby brain. Also I noticed that part you pointed out at 13:51 kinda reminds me of spooky cave levels in early video games.

[@OlderThanTime09]

This is one of my favorite videos of yours, and I watch all your stuff. The perspective you bring with your jazz experience and your movie score passion make this very insightful.

[@the0siren0of0night]

The Rite of Spring is my absolutely favourite piece of music!!! It was one of the ways I'm able to get my creativity going...

[@GuillaumeB7]

The drawing at 0:05 is from the Schoenberg riot (Skandalkonzert), 2 months before the Stravinsky one. 😉

[@matthew5330]

Currently studying this for A level and found it really difficult to grasp, but your explanations of the context of the piece as well as the musicality really helped me!

[@noahsan92]

charles is free music college

[@matthew5330]

@@noahsan92 ikr

[@cloudkap]

PRACTICE!

[@PlugInKali]

The Rite of Spring is actually my favourite piece of classical music and I know it by heart odd meters and all, and I'm not even a musician. If I remember correctly, as avant-garde as the music was, the audience was actually more taken aback by the choreography than by the music itself. In fact, the original choreography was only performed 8 times until it was reconstructed in the 80s. Also, even though there was undeniably an unruly behaviour during the première, the term riot is a huge exaggeration and it was first used in some reviews that came out several years after the première.

[@phpn99]

"classical" !

[@Jinkaza1882]

I am so glad you went to film music. The beauty of art influencing art. Great vid.

[@hennerz93]

I don’t like to call it ‘turning your brain to mush’ that would imply a lack of function, I would prefer to call acclimating and therefore being more receptive

[@egilsandnes9637]

Theme suggestion for video: Shostakovich, a man who often used quite a lot of dissonances, but also wrote his 24 preludes and fugues in all keys (major and minor) where the prelude i A major literally have no vertical dissonances at all! At any given moment you only hear notes belonging to triads in major or minor. I love dissonances and harsh sounds, but this is one of my favourite pieces of all times. The abundant key changes gets to really shine.

Very good video ! I love the image of the new path to take for musical adventure. When I was a guitar teacher, I used to apply classical techniques I learned, but they always wanted to know why you can't put your neck hand's thumb on the neck. Now I see how guitar techniques have evolved, I think I'd teach quite differently.

[@MostIngenious]

Great video! Williams was amazing in how he found go back and forth between lush romantic harmony and modernistic styles, with a little jazz thrown in. The Rite of Spring passage quoted at 13:13 is repeated almost exactly in the JAWS main theme! Williams also got his Stravinsky on quite boldly in The Dune Sea / Jaws Sandcrawler, and especially in Battle of Hoth (Imperial Walkers) from Empire, which is WILD.

[@ashleym8390]

I first heard this when my mom took me to see Fantasia in 1990/1 and loved it so much. It’s so cacophonous and passionate. This and Mussorgsky started my enjoyment of Russian composers.

[@paulgering7703]

Could you talk about Lili Boulanger someday?

[@dhpbear2]

11:42 - I would say that Star Wars was more inspired by Holtz' "The Planets".

[@daviddotorg]

John Williams took inspiration from many pieces, not just one. Also, the soundtrack for "Star Wars" is a pretty large collection.

[@jameswaugaman8052]

I was told by a concert pianist once who did his doctoral thesis on the Rite of Spring, that it wasn’t really the music that caused the riot but rival artist groups attacking each other. Which kinda makes sense because during the second performance people didn’t make a sound.

[@rhydianmann267]

My exposure to Stravinsky was thanks to the original Disney's Fantasia which put the story of evolution (until the death of the dinosaurs!) to the entire suite. However, I listened to it a lot on CD on it's own as a teen, then I got into metal in late teens and there a so many similarities in the feelings I get.

[@joshuagrant6192]

Stravinsky?!?!? As In Igor Stravinsky?!? LET'S GO!!! Come On Charles You Can't Mention "The Rite Of Spring" Without Mentioning The "Firebird Suite" More Specifically "The Infernal Dance Of King Kashchei And His Subjects" By Igor Stravinsky. I've Been A Huge Fan Of That Tune Ever Since I Was In Middle School.🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@bengodwin7126]

I - a guitarist - once said Rite of Spring was my favourite piece of classical music. My friend - a classical pianist - answered: “of course you love Rite of Spring - it’s just a bunch of riffs.” And it is!

[@collinbeal]

That Steve Reich piece really shows off a Moondog influence. Ironically enough, Moondog was also a huge inspiration to Philip Glass.

[@collinbeal]

Moondog best 20th century composer confirmed

[@edique9772]

My mother once introduced me to Moondog. He was standing at the corner in front of NYC's Museum of Modern Art as he always did, dressed in full Viking array with his signature cowhorn helmet and spear, in the drizzling rain. This was in the mid '60s. Did I say he was blind? We had a pleasant conversation. When we returned home, we bought one of his records. I still have it.

[@magenta-rosepark4965]

One of my favorite compositions.

[@_jeff65_]

I mean, some sections of the rite of spring were literally used by Williams in A New Hope. The best example is when 3PO and R2 are in Tatooine's desert before being captured by the Jawas.

[@riccardogilardi3124]

FYI: I don't know how much is it known outside Italy, but we have a similar story from a theatre show In the early 20's Luigi Pirandello, a genius screenwriter who wrote a lot about society, masks and roles (not only in theater) premiered "Six Characters in Search of an Author" (Sei personaggi in cerca di autore). This show was really modern and bizarre for the time: through the plot the characters started talking with the author, in the seatings, and interacted with him talking about their story and what they wanted as characters for themselves. It is said that in the first years this was shown, people rioted, throw their papers and got really enraged with the "4th wall break" and the post-modernism of the show. It is one of the most beloved work of Pirandello, with "il fu mattia pascal", "uno, nessuno, centomila", "Enrico IV" and many more. If you cannot find and english version of the show or the book, there is a film modernization of the book called "happy family" from Gabriele Salvatores.

[@catfdljws]

one reminder of Rite of Spring is that much of it (ok, about half) is something the last few generations have heard as *children* because of Disney's Fantasia. I first saw it at age 4 in 1974 (and soon again in 1977), and segments of it were occasionally repeated on Wonderful World of Disney in the 70s, a Sunday evening tradition. There's something to be said for exposure to interesting/different music when a kid. You take it as 'normal' because it is there with everything else your parents have around them, side by side. There's nothing "wrong" with it because you had no basis of comparison to decide that something else was '"right". Now there are exceptions to that, of course, and some things will always feel more right than others just because of the innateness of the tonic-dominant relationship and harmonic series. But the young exposure is a factor even as much as how many action films since are inspired by it. I note that even Debussy's Faun, considered today one of the gentlest and most relaxing pieces, was greeted by the audience negatively given its extensive tritones and the total unfamiliarity with the whole-tone scale, at least according to Bernstein's Harvard Lectures.

[@paulgering7703]

Minimalist music is an inspiration for me. I like to hum my own melody while listening to these pieces. It’s like listening to a dream.

[@ReaperUnreal]

Honestly I hear the Matrix Reloaded score SO MUCH in the Rite of Spring. Really goes to show how tastes evolve over time.

[@delyar]

I’m friends with people who sang in the chorus on a touring company of “Einstein on the beach” and they were always positive about the experience.

[@nathanthauwald2709]

You could add Beethoven's Grosse Fuge to this list. That piece is probably even more revolutionary and ahead of its time than the others listed here. 100 years before The Rite. Another reason Beethoven was the greatest. (He was completely deaf when he wrote it, btw)

[@AgustinGiannastasio]

12:52 whispers "'oh man just look at the time changes here, they're all over the place" lol so funny

[@noahayrton6189]

I see what you mean with the films! My brain went to musical theatre first- West Side Story and Les Misérables, more specifically.

[@pinkajou656]

I hear it!

[@markop.1994]

The rite gives me goosebumps. Makes me want to dance in an extatic trance in the woods

[@sepoyband2443]

I would love for you to critique Mahlers 5th symphony. The second movement, in particular has a lot of these chaotic qualities. And then there’s the third movement of his 9th symphony, which is music so complex, hard to imagine how it was conceived.

[@PiinkyPeyed]

I've always loved a bit of chaos in music but Rite of Spring genuinely triggers my fight or flight response it freaks me out so much like the hairs on my arms and neck stood up just from hearing bits and pieces in this video. I wonder if Fantasia traumatised me as a child??

[@cooldebt]

Charles again looking at some music that I would not ordinarily choose to listen to. Thanks for expanding our musical horizons!

[@janugur2241]

13:30 this is Polytonality where you have multiple tonic notes the harmony revolve around. In this specific point it’s betwen Fb major and Eb major which when combined create the chord the string section is playing as a whole. There are a lot of examples for Polytonality and Polyrhythm in this piece.

[@LuisSandoval1138]

I love Stravinsky's Petruschka and The Rite Of Spring. Ahead at his time, no doubt. The modern film music takes a lot of Stravinsky's basis. Nice video.

[@andywellsglobaldomination]

Yes but do you love Dunbarton Oaks?

[@Ryousake]

I love The Rite of Spring with my whole soul but keeping up with the counting is HARD. I think it would be interesting to watch you do the last section, Sacrificial Dance, Clap along you can find on youtube! I've been working on practicing as i'm not good with switching time signatures that change the length of the beat in general. Its fun!

[@musomaster9027]

Rite of spring was my study music during high school mathematics. It offset the anxiety perfectly somehow.

[@trilexfix]

Strange but then I never liked math so I guess it works for some.

[@FellshardYT]

A massive part of this is /context/. When you contextualize a score that uses a nebulous time signature or meter, and a nebulous key center as lining up with the actions of a film, it suddenly /make sense/ in a way that it isn't as easy to understand otherwise. Further still, Rite of Spring is extraordinarily clever insofar as it creates its own little motifs, and then proceeds to weave them across instruments and keys, and those are what give the music its structure, no matter how bizarre it gets. It feels very similar to the minimalists in that regard, and to some of the complex woven stuff of, say, Hamasyan's 'The Grid' and 'Out of the Grid'.

[@JimmyJames714]

I wish you would do something on Raymond Scott. His signature tune is probably Powerhouse. It was used a lot in old cartoons, but I don’t think that’s what it was written for.