Igor Stravinsky was born in Lomonosov, Russia, on June 17, 1882, and
died in New York on April 6, 1971. The first performance of Le sacre du
printemps took place in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées on May
29, 1913, with Pierre Monteux conducting. Le sacre du printemps is scored
for two piccolos, three flutes, alto flute, four oboes, two English horns,
three clarinets, E-flat clarinet, two bass clarinets, four bassoons, two
contrabassoons, eight horns, two Wagner tubas, piccolo trumpet, four
trumpets, bass trumpet, four trombones, two tubas, timpani (two players),
antique cymbals (in A-flat and B-flat), bass drum, cymbals, güiro, tam-tam,
tambourine, triangle, and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty-
three minutes.

The Rite of Spring, one of the landmarks of 20 th -century music, was the final work in a trilogy—along with The Firebird (1910) and Pétrouchka (1911)—that Igor Stravinsky composed for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. It was during
completion of The Firebird that Stravinsky received his inspiration for The Rite of
Spring:

I had a fleeting vision which came to me as a complete surprise, my
mind at the moment being full of other things. I saw in imagination a solemn pagan rite: sage elders, seated in a circle, watched a young
girl dance herself to death. They were sacrificing her to propitiate
the god of spring. Such was the theme of the Sacre du Printemps.

The dress rehearsal for The Rite of Spring took place without incident. However,
the May 29, 1913 premiere at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées was quite
another matter. Members of the audience began jeering during the very first bars
of the prelude. Matters only worsened when the curtain rose on, according to
Stravinsky, “knock-kneed and long-braided Lolitas jumping up and down.”

Others present during one of the most infamous performances in music history
attested to actual physical altercations between audience members. Throughout
the premiere, conductor Pierre Monteux, according to Stravinsky, “stood there
apparently impervious and nerveless as a crocodile. It is still almost incredible to
me that he actually brought the orchestra to the end.”

Stravinsky received his vindication when, on April 5, 1914, Monteux led a Paris
concert performance of The Rite of Spring:

The hall was crowded. The audience, with no scenery to distract them, listened with concentrated attention and applauded with an enthusiasm I had been far from expecting and which greatly moved me. Certain critics who had censured the Sacre the year before now openly admitted their mistake. This conquest of the public naturally gave me intense and lasting satisfaction.

Part I—The Adoration of the Earth

Introduction. Lento, tempo rubato

The Augurs of Spring, Dances of the Young Girls. Tempo giusto

Ritual of Abduction. Presto

Spring Rounds. Tranquillo; Sostenuto e pesante; Vivo; Tranquillo

Ritual of the Rival Tribes. Molto allegro

Procession of the Sage

The Sage. Lento

Dance of the Earth. Prestissimo

Part II—The Sacrifice

Introduction. Largo

Mystic Circles of the Young Girls. Andante con moto

Glorification of the Chosen One. Vivo

Evocation of the Ancestors. L’istesso movimento

Ritual Action of the Ancestors

Sacrificial Dance (The Chosen One)

program notes by Ken Meltzer