The Rite of Spring Typifies a Stylistic Trait of Modernism Known of Primitivism. Discuss.
The Rite of Spring by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) had been composed in 1913 and is considered a masterpiece of the twentieth century. Despite being considered such a prolific piece, it serves as quite paradoxical when it comes to its rather contradictory and ambivalent background. The composition process had been approached in a different style to much of his other works, involving myth, folklore and traditionalism and all of which surround this rather haunting yet admirable piece with great controversy. Primitivism is an obvious and quite prominent influence upon the Rite of Spring but what were these features and how do they relate to the ambiguous, diverse genre of Modernism? To realise, the internal cogs that turn this devise must first of all be analysed and recognised.
Modernism is regarded as a phenomenon of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century that is supposedly pioneered in a sense by the likes of Claude Debussy. The roots of the Russian Avant Garde scene began with a group of artists who dubbed themselves ‘The Wanderers’, they used native Russian materials, focusing mainly on Scythian civilisation, medieval icons and national peasant art and costume. This formed the ‘private opera’ in Moscow reflecting the taste of the Wanderers. This is evident in works such as Rimsky Korsakov’s (1844-1907) The Snow Maiden (Watkins, 1988, p.196). It lacks the boundaries once adhered to by composers of the strict eras gone by. A typical characteristic is displayed by the fact it does not have to rely on key, as diatonic tonality is used much more freely (Griffiths, Modern Music, p.7). The main idea behind Modernism is to delineate a strong sense of rejection towards the ‘outdated’ music of the past and bring in a new ‘contemporary’ approach to musical expression. Stravinsky was well aware that the term ‘neo-classical’, a form of modernism, is used in a rather naive sense and applied freely to many composers of the twentieth century
Modernism is regarded as a phenomenon of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century that is supposedly pioneered in a sense by the likes of Claude Debussy. The roots of the Russian Avant Garde scene began with a group of artists who dubbed themselves ‘The Wanderers’, they used native Russian materials, focusing mainly on Scythian civilisation, medieval icons and national peasant art and costume. This formed the ‘private opera’ in Moscow reflecting the taste of the Wanderers. This is evident in works such as Rimsky Korsakov’s (1844-1907) The Snow Maiden (Watkins, 1988, p.196). It lacks the boundaries once adhered to by composers of the strict eras gone by. A typical characteristic is displayed by the fact it does not have to rely on key, as diatonic tonality is used much more freely (Griffiths, Modern Music, p.7). The main idea behind Modernism is to delineate a strong sense of rejection towards the ‘outdated’ music of the past and bring in a new ‘contemporary’ approach to musical expression. Stravinsky was well aware that the term ‘neo-classical’, a form of modernism, is used in a rather naive sense and applied freely to many composers of the twentieth century