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Happy 100th to Stravinsky's "Le sacre du printemps"!


TownerFan

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On May 29, 1913, the world of arts was forever changed when the audience who gathered at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris was about to witness the first ever performance of a ballet composed by Igor Stravinsky called Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring). The rest, as they say, is history.

This seminal piece of music really turned the music world upside down and went on to become one of the most important pieces of music ever written in the 20th century. Nothing was the same after it.

After 100 years, Stravinsky's Sacre is still a powerful composition, capable of infusing a great deal of excitement and awe to anyone who listen to it. Film composers also took their share of great influence from this piece.

So, let's celebrate one of the most amazing pieces of music ever conceived by a human being! NPR Classical made some great articles to celebrate the anniversary, go read them here.

Watch this wonderful visualization made by composer and videoartist Stephen Malinowski:

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A truly remarkable milestone in the history of orchestral music, and Western music in general. A very happy birthday to a bizarre, terrifying, and wonderful piece of music!

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Happy 100th birthday to this landmark piece! :)

I wanted to go to a concert today here in Helsinki where the Helsinki Philharmonic plays the original version of this piece. Alas the tickets were sold out, at least the good seats. :(

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I love this series.

Anyone who is a serious lover of music MUST watch the whole Bernstein's Norton Lectures series.

Oh I have to watch this ASAP. Bernstein really knew how to put music into words in a way that even a non-musician could understand.

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Wow, a century! Truly remarkable.

Happy birthday, Le Sacre! :)

If anybody's interested, here Bernstein goes into excellent detail about the piece (and other Stravinsky greats) and even plays some bits:

Wow, a century! Truly remarkable.

Happy birthday, Le Sacre! :)

If anybody's interested, here Bernstein goes into excellent detail about the piece (and other Stravinsky greats) and even plays some bits:

this is the greatest thing! I dont think there has ever been anybody before or after him that spoke so well about music

this is fantastic too! ( sorry if theres not a video preview, but its a documentary about Stravinsky in later life talking about his experiences. You see him talking with a very young boulez, picasso, and alot of other greats from his generation.

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One of the greatest pieces ever written. One that has personally changed my life and the whole face of music. To think its only been a century!

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To think its only been a century!

Really? I'd put it differently: To think it's been a whole century - when by comparison, Beethoven's 9th wasn't yet 100 years old when Stravinsky wrote it!

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Wow the Bernstein's lecture on Stravinsky is phenomenal. His treatment and illumination of Sacre is absolutely fascinating. Eloquent and extremely sharp observations.

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this is fantastic too! ( sorry if theres not a video preview, but its a documentary about Stravinsky in later life talking about his experiences. You see him talking with a very young boulez, picasso, and alot of other greats from his generation.

Thank you for that video. Awesome stuff (and easy to follow too, due to the Swedish subtitles).

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I was very lucky to play this piece with Helsinki PO on it's 100th birthday(and today also) We didn't have a riot after the performance, as they did after the premiere... :)

Edit: Damn, I didn't visit this site last days and didn't notice you might have been interested Mikko...

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Wow the Bernstein's lecture on Stravinsky is phenomenal. His treatment and illumination of Sacre is absolutely fascinating. Eloquent and extremely sharp observations.

You then have to watch the whole Bernstein's Norton Lectures series. It's absolutely illuminating.

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I was very lucky to play this piece with Helsinki PO on it's 100th birthday(and today also) We didn't have a riot after the performance, as they did after the premiere... :)

Edit: Damn, I didn't visit this site last days and didn't notice you might have been interested Mikko...

Well it happens that I was otherwise engaged almost every night this week so I don't think I could have attended the concert(s) anyway. At least there is something to look forward to in future seasons of Finnish orchestras as I am sure The Rite of Spring won't be a passing phenomenon in the music scene and will return someday to the Music Hall here in Helsinki. ;)

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