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6:00 PM FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2018
BENNETT GORDON HALL
DAVID KAPLAN,
piano
TIMO ANDRES,
piano
†
STRAVINSKY
e Rite of Spring
(for two pianos)
Part One: e Adoration of the Earth
Introduction
Harbingers of Spring: Dance of the Adolescents
Abduction
Spring Rounds
Games of the Rival Towns
e Procession of the Wise Man
Dance of the Earth
Part Two: e Sacri ce
Introduction
Mysterious Circles of the Adolescents
Glori cation of the Chosen One
Evocation of the Ancestors
Ritual of the Ancestors
e Sacri cial Dance of the Chosen One
–
–
RACHMANINOFF
Symphonic Dances
(for two pianos)
Non allegro
Andante con moto (Tempo di valse)
Lento assai—Allegro vivace
†
Ravinia debut
Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of
e Serge Rachmanino Foundation
.
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882–1971)
Le sacre du printemps
(
e Rite of Spring
):
Scenes of Pagan Russia in Two Parts
(arranged for two pianos by the composer)
A mature Stravinsky diminished the importance
of “inspiration” to musical composition. “Most
music lovers believe that what sets the compos-
er’s creative imagination in motion is a certain
emotive disturbance generally designated
inspi-
ration
. … I simply maintain that inspiration is
in no way a prescribed condition of the creative
act, but rather a manifestation that is chrono-
logically second.”
is excerpt comes from the
Poetics of Music
(
), a series of lectures de-
livered while Stravinsky held the Charles Eliot
Norton Chair of Poetics at Harvard University.
At the distance of years, Stravinsky apparent-
ly had forgotten a conspicuous case of “primary
inspiration” in his most notorious work:
Le sacre
du printemps
(
e Rite of Spring
).
While writing
L’oiseau de feu
(
e Firebird
) score
for a
production by the Ballets Russes, Stra-
vinsky experienced a vivid, detailed vision. “I
saw in [my] imagination a solemn pagan rite:
sage elders, seated in a circle, watched a young
girl dance herself to death.
ey were sacri c-
ing her to propitiate the god of spring.” Stravin-
sky shared his startling dream with the painter
Nicholas Roerich and Sergei Diaghilev, the im-
presario of the Ballets Russes. Both were elec-
tri ed by the vision and thought of its balletic
potential. First, Stravinsky had another project
to dispense with: the puppet burlesque
Petrush-
ka
. Meanwhile, Roerich expanded Stravinsky’s
vision into a fullscale ballet scenario.
e following year, Stravinsky devoted full at-
tention to
e Rite of Spring
, hoping that Diaghi-
lev would bring it to the stage in
.
e sce-
nario is cast in two parts, comprising scenes.
e Adoration of the Earth
, the rst part, brings
the winter thaw and reawakening of the earth.
e solo bassoon is the harbinger of spring, but
its placid call is overcome by primitive ferocity.
In a conversation with Robert Cra , Stravinsky
remembered “the violent Russian spring that
Igor Stravinsky (1913)
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