Igor Stravinsky was born in 1882, near St. Petersburg,
Russia (Feridunoğlu, 2005). The Rite of Spring was first premiered in Paris in 1913 and created
riots in the concert hall with its unexpected harmonies, clashing dissonances
and rhythmic variety. His use of multiple harmonies at once created a new
technique called “poly-harmony” and a year after its premier, Rite of Spring was accepted as the master
piece of the trend “primitivism”. (Feridunoğlu, 2005). Stravinsky gave great importance to rhythm
and rhythmic motifs in all of his pieces.
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| Scene from Rite of Spring-Choreographed by Nijinsky |
Rite of Spring is a ballet, composed for the symphonic orchestra, and is about an old ritual performed in Russia for the arrival of
spring; it consists of the dance and sacrifice of a young girl by the “ancestors”.
