Stravinsky Dance Of The Young Girls Analysis
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (b. 5/17 June 1882; d. 6 April 1971) is undoubtedly one of the most important and influential musical personalities of the 20th century, his musical innovations concerning rhythm, harmony, melody and sound texture from his early works also making him a pioneer of new music.
The 20th century has been marked by tumultuous events and the conflictual and agitated atmosphere surrounding certain nations during the first decade pushed artists towards a nationalist attitude. In the pre-World War Russia there were two school of composition: the St. Petersburg nationalistic school led by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and the Moscow school, which followed Tchaikovsky's Western tradition. Igor Stravinsky came from the Russian National …show more content…
03).
The same "Dance of the Young Girls" presents another rhythmical device preferred by Stravinsky, which is the ostinato, the constant repetition of a rhythmic figure. In this case, it is the insistent pounding of two juxtaposed chords: the Dominant 7th on E flat and a chord of F flat Major. This repeats with brutal asymmetric accents for eight bars at first, then for nine, followed by another thirty-five bars. Therefore, we can see how the harmonic discourse is dominated by the rhythmical element in Stravinsky's music.
Another innovative aspect of Stravinsky's second and third ballets is their bitonality, which is the use of two different keys at the same time, as seen with the juxtaposition of the two chords in "Dance of the Young Girls". According to Alfred Casella, the composer can be seen as the primogenitor of polytonality, as The Rite of Spring presents bitonality properly and is not just "a more or less happy 'experiment' " (1924: 164). However, polytonality can be found in his previous ballet as well. Two major triads, C Major and F sharp Major, are superimposed and create one dissonant chord, which has been named the Petrushka chord (Fig.
The 20th century has been marked by tumultuous events and the conflictual and agitated atmosphere surrounding certain nations during the first decade pushed artists towards a nationalist attitude. In the pre-World War Russia there were two school of composition: the St. Petersburg nationalistic school led by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and the Moscow school, which followed Tchaikovsky's Western tradition. Igor Stravinsky came from the Russian National …show more content…
03).
The same "Dance of the Young Girls" presents another rhythmical device preferred by Stravinsky, which is the ostinato, the constant repetition of a rhythmic figure. In this case, it is the insistent pounding of two juxtaposed chords: the Dominant 7th on E flat and a chord of F flat Major. This repeats with brutal asymmetric accents for eight bars at first, then for nine, followed by another thirty-five bars. Therefore, we can see how the harmonic discourse is dominated by the rhythmical element in Stravinsky's music.
Another innovative aspect of Stravinsky's second and third ballets is their bitonality, which is the use of two different keys at the same time, as seen with the juxtaposition of the two chords in "Dance of the Young Girls". According to Alfred Casella, the composer can be seen as the primogenitor of polytonality, as The Rite of Spring presents bitonality properly and is not just "a more or less happy 'experiment' " (1924: 164). However, polytonality can be found in his previous ballet as well. Two major triads, C Major and F sharp Major, are superimposed and create one dissonant chord, which has been named the Petrushka chord (Fig.