Stravinsky, A critical survey (1935)

[uncloned]

I found this on the net. I find it interesting reading when his work is described. I recommend to skip to those passages.

http://www.archive.org/stream/stravinskyacriti011265mbp/stravinskyacriti011265mbp_djvu.txt


excerpt p 39

In the Ritual Dance 2
there is a complex ostinato, mainly for percussion, which is virtually
a counter-subject in itself and fills a 5/4 bar. The time signature of
the main subject varies between, 5/4, 4/4 and 3/4, and at first the
ostinato is lopped of one beat or two to make it fit the bars ; but later
it persists in its 5/4 shape and cuts relentlessly across the bar lines.
Sometimes an unbroken pulsation is obtained by alternation
between the treble and the bass (as in the opening sections of the
Glorification of the Chosen Victim and the Ritual Dance) ; and in
these passages Stravinsky seems to find a special need for complex
syncopation. Every device of compound metre (combination of
twos, threes and fours) is used to avoid regular stresses; and the
strong beats are, wherever possible, fortified by an unsparing use of
percussion.


YMMV of course...

[Harbinger]

After reading the text of the link, i was disheartened to find the lack of deference for Erik Satie. His influence on Stravinksy was so stark that when you listen to The Rite of Spring, you hear Satie throughout. The menagerie of themes that wouldn't normally anywhere else be found in a single composition, much less a single movement; the unorthodox key and rhythmic changes, and the glorification of the profane and primitive. Stravinsky perfected Satie's style by incorporating polyrhythms (5/4 + 3/16) and layered keys (woodwinds playing F# melodies while trumpets do F major, for example).

I was fortunate enough to read a copy of Stravinsky's published conductor scores for The Rite of Spring and drew so much inspiration from his technique and defiance to conventional theory that i started several symphonies myself attempting to use these methods. I only finished one and it wasn't very good, which only made me respect him and Satie even more. You can't just throw musical ideas on a wall and call it art -- there is a method to the madness!

[uncloned]

I did not know Satie was that progressive. What I've read and seen so far suggests Igor amalgamated Russia folk with classical in a most unique way.

I'll look into that more.

You are so right about art. Art transcends technique to become expression and not just an exercise. What blows my mind is when the expression is the result of a deep theoretical basis like using the golden ratio or Fibonacci series. Somehow the best can pull all of that together.

[Harbinger]

I did not know Satie was that progressive. What I've read and seen so far suggests Igor amalgamated Russia folk with classical in a most unique way.

Too many people equate Satie with his very rich "Trois Gymnopedies" that they think he's akin to Delius or Debussy. Those works are beautiful, yes, but they were VERY unlike his normal style. Most of his works were written on an upright piano in a suburb of Paris, and resemble more the old B&W silent movie tracks or Vaudevillian background music. His works were short but jumped between keys and rhythms and ideas like a lunatic on a pogo stick. One trait i share with Satie is that he was very spiteful, or perhaps willful. Where the masses went, he bolted. What was traditional method, he wanted to shake it around till the coins fell out.

For all those who despise convention (or at least find beauty in the eccentric), Satie will inspire you... :wink: