This Classical Piece blew my mind - Stravinsky The Rite of Spring | Reaction 

This is one of the most influential pieces of classical music. This piece is one of the biggest reasons for why modern audiences are a lot more used to dissonance in music. A lot of popular film music like Star Wars, Jaws etc. was massively influenced by this.

Perfect for Christmas

The premier was actually pretty funny: The tumult began not long after the ballet's opening notes - a meandering and eerily high-pitched bassoon solo that elicited laughter and derision from many in the audience. The jeers became louder as the orchestra progressed into more cacophonous territory, with its pounding percussion and jarring rhythms escalating in tandem with the tensions inside the recently opened Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Things reached a near-fever pitch by the time the dancers took the stage, under the direction of famed choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky of the Ballets Russes. Dressed in whimsical costumes, the dancers performed bizarre and violent moves, eschewing grace and fluidity for convulsive jerks that mirrored the work’s strange narrative of pagan sacrifice. Onstage in Paris, the crowd's catcalls became so loud that the ballerinas could no longer hear the orchestra, forcing Nijinsky to shout out commands from backstage. A scuffle eventually broke out between two factions in the audience, and the orchestra soon found itself under siege, as angry Parisians hurled vegetables and other objects toward the stage. It's not clear whether the police were ever dispatched to the theater, though 40 people were reportedly ejected. Remarkably, the performance continued to completion, though the fallout was swift and brutal. -from theverge

first time this was performed it caused a riot in the concert hall

“A sound I have never heard before “ - beautifully spoken. And it is. It is war, passion, emotion, depth. Thank you for listening and creating such videos

Yessiiirr! You in for a wild ride with this one! This will open your eyes to a whole new world of classical music! Edit: this famously caused a riot on the first night it was played😉 Edit 2: The piece is supposed to represent prehistoric russia and the second part a sacrifice for the spring gods where a virgin dances herself to death. The piece was also originally shown with a ballet, and the ballet is 100% reccommended to watch after listening to this, because it adds like double the impact to the music!

14:58 He's playing a washboard, which was once used in the laundry to scrub clothes clean. Stravinsky actually wrote the part for a "guiro" (a wooden South American instrument which makes a scraping sound), but I guess a washboard makes a similar, and probably louder, noise!

And yes, it is challenging to perform. Constant meter and key changes, with string sections split into four parts at times. An extremely intricate and rich sound results. Pure genius from Mr. Stravinsky.

I love this piece so much!!! I used to be (still am) a huge Stravinsky fanboy. The Rite is indeed a rite of passage (pun intended) for musicians and classical listeners alike, it really changed the game on classical music. Can't wait for you to discover more of his pieces!

18:13 Not only the instruments that are usually in orchestras, but also rarer additions like alto flute and a small size of trumpet.

Just got an email asking me to be another Trumpet for a local Symphony Orchestra's performance of Rite of Spring in November. I believe I'm going to be on the Piccolo trumpet.

I never paid attention to Stravinsky's work but his "Firebird" played in the background of a segment of a computer game. I became obsessed with trying to understand it. It's complex, abstract, fascinating, shocking, revelatory, disturbing and more. He had something very important to say about humans that absolutely could not be put into words. I find it unsettling but love it despite.

Igor Stravinsky = genius

So great to see someone discovering this masterpiece for the first time....glad you enjoy it!

From 7:04, that "jingle" you hear is the sound of some rarely used "antique cymbals" (also called crotales, here in A-flat and B-flat), which look like very small cymbals.

If you think this blew YOUR mind, go check out what happened at the premiere.

Oh also, as crazy as the Rite sounds it still builds off of Russian folk tunes, using bits and pieces of these ancient tunes to evoke this pagan landscape, like many other works Stravinsky wrote in the 1910s (The Firebird, Petrushka, Renard, Les Noces) It's a style I really love and this review made me so happy, seeing your reaction and excitement was amazing!

The Rite of Spring is written for ballet for the 1913 Paris, so it would be helpful to understand this piece more with background story behind this. Below is the excerpt of the explanation of this piece. “This is among the most controversial ballets ever written, causing spectators to call out during its first showing in Paris. The story itself is concerned with a prehistoric society in pagan Russia, which every year must sacrifice a virgin to ensure that the gods will be pleased in order to continue the group's survival. Ultimately, one such girl is chosen, and as the other performers visually align themselves with the earth, she is forced by the elders of the tribe to dance herself to death. Critics at the time of the ballet's debut were utterly shocked, with a near-riot during opening night. Simply put, the music and the dance were both nothing short of revolutionary. The ballet proved that modern dance could have a place in classical performances, and just as importantly, that ballet was far from a 'safe' form of expression. Additionally, the abject sexuality of the piece deserves some mention. While themes of sexuality had long been common on stage and in literature, this was one of the first times that such issues were pursued by contemporary artists. “ For your reference, I put a link of ballet performance conducted by Sergei Diaghilev ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YOZmlYgYzG4.html Also, here is Twosetviolin’s hilarious video “When the Rite of Spring takes over you”, they pranked people in public by “performing ” the dance. I died with laughter. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eiDqiZhM7Tc.html

I'd recomed you listening to Prokofievs first symphony, it is a short piece(only 22mins!), both lighthearted, fastpaced and dramatic. I think you'll love it! I love seeing your reactions btw, realy motivates me, a classical violinist, to continue practicing ;)) I played The Rite of Spring last summer, and it was a blast! Enjoyed seing that we shared the same emotions whisle listening/playing the piece. Would highly recomend you going to a concerthall and listening to it live... Oh man, if you thought the recording was good, you're in for a treat!

"It sounds like: 'We're about to fuck some shit up'." Possibly the best description I've ever heard of The Rite of Spring!

So this is TRIBAL spring. Spring is all about sex and war (or rivalry) in the primitive human world as it is in the rest of the animal kingdom, it’s life on HEAT. “the struggle of life” I think would be a fitting way of describing the Rite. You can hear that DRIVE, war, sacrifice, pain, suffering and death very clearly….But you can also hear (and that perhaps more in part 2 but also in part 1) that SILENCE and those primitive simple, and touching, melodies that really embody that pure, untouched, natural world, in these moments you really sense the communion within the community/tribe and with nature..and sound as if they really go back Thousands and thousands of years ago….can’t help but be moved by this providential, otherworldly, genius..

I like your spontaneous response. You feel it like I feel it. And I have listened to it many, many times. It's the explosion of spring, life bursting into being. Very powerful stuff.

The Planets, Op. 32, by the English composer Gustav Holst, is another masterpiece of monumental proportions.

This is probably the single most important piece of classical music of the 20th century.

Stravinsky's inventiveness palpably surfaces following a performance reading the score.

Dear Gidi, I just got the goosebumps too- must be the exquisite music- the sounds of nature 😊🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵💙💚❗️

Ah rite of spring one of my favourite pieces by Igor Stravinsky. I've didn't commented on your videos for a while but i'll try to comment more again. Greetings from Bavaria :)

Thank you for your engaging and thoughtful reaction! As a violinist who’s performed this work, I’m always delighted to see new listeners explore and discover another corner of our vast musical world. Liked and subscribed!

You should check out "Waltz of the Flowers" by Tchaikovsky as well as anything from his "Nutcracker Suite". There will be quite a few recognizable melodies.

That "jingle" you heard at 7:04 was a combination of a triangle and two sets of antique cymbals. It's a shame the camera didn't get a shot of them so you could see what they look like.

I love your reaction at 04:46.

The ballet Stravinsky Rite of Spring - le sacre du printemps - by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch AMAZING !!! 😎😎😎 you tube 36,31 minutes ! Would love to see the reaction to this touching ballet ...

You're opening your taste to a new world with this. Notice that each version of this piece have its own flavour. My favorite thing about this piece is how string instruments are used in a way that it's more like if they were the percussion. And with that amalgam of odd time signatures, for moments it sounds like modern mathcore or djent xD. Sure Stravinsky was ahead of his time. Game changing piece (one of the most influential) , nice version (maybe the rounds a little bit rushed for me), great reaction!

seeing as this has been up for 8 months, you are now probably up to speed with the whole story behind this masterpiece. This and The Firebird Suite .....Ive heard both in concert....mind blown.

Your reaction is pretty much the same as many of the people in the audience at its premiere in 1913 in Paris. Nobody had ever heard anything like it. The dissonant harmony, the atonal and bitonal moments, the incredible rhythmic complexity and brutality, and the insanely difficult and unconventional orchestration...all of it. Some hated it and walked out, some were totally bewildered, some loved it. It's one of the most influential watershed moments in all of music.

Just checked in And please react to part 2 as well. The final sacrifice is savage!

4:11 this is a piccolo trumpet, which sounds an octave higher than a normal one. The player is using a mute which gives it the buzzing sound

I think Gidi is ready for and would love Bartok! Please check out Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, with the Hungarian National Philharmonic under Zoltán Kocsis (superb interpreter of Bartok's music).

Music for the ballet - Love it - all these musical conversations intertwining - exciting and interesting. Thanks GIDI for the fun with this one. Regards to all.

4:15 LMAO !!!! Perfect reaction

Bravo! This music was regarded when it first appeared 100 years ago as tuneless noise by most and provoked riots in theatres. It is now seen as the true beginning of modern music and your instant appreciatiion of its qualties is fantastic. Also try to find a performance of another Stravinsky piece - Petrushka. These were both written as ballet music for the Ballet Russe in Paris.

THIS IS ONE OF MY BEST AND INFLUENTIAL WORKS EVER!! IT IS POLY RHYMIC, POLY TONAL.ETC LOVE IT!!!

Best thing ever written. Full stop. My favorite commentary on the insane complexity of this work was a violinist in the London Symphony who said "If you all end the piece at the same time, you have accomplished something"

That leaden interpretation by Sir Simon compelled me to look for an exciting performance, and, lo and behold, Leonard Bernstein conducted the same orchestra, the London Symphony, in the sixties, and it is on RU-vid. The performance was so singular an experience to ALL in attendance, that at the end, the LSO musicians refused to stand to take a bow and instead enthusiastically applauded Maestro Bernstein. (No, they were not just being polite, I know what that looks like, and this was different). It is in black-and-white, but the sound is perfectly good and very well balanced. I urge you, GIDI, to look it up.

The Rite of Spring is probably the most famous ballet premiered by the historic Ballet Russes, which also commissioned and premiered multiple different ballet works during its tenure. The sort of "new" style that the Ballet Russes wanted led to the composition of multiple ballet works from different composers that helped push and experiment on the dance form, in particular, harmony and rhythm. Other ballet works that are really good are Stravinsky's earlier ballets, "The Firebird" and "Petrushka" and Ravel's first ballet (and arguably one of the best ballet works), "Daphnis and Chloe"

This piece is a ballet which depicts various pagan rituals of spring including the sacrafice of a virgin. Stavinsky found and incorporated ancient Ruusian tunes. Its first performance caused a riot.

It was controversial in its day, because it's so different from what they'd heard back then - people walked out of the performance. You'd like Pulcinella - his Baroque period

Really, nothing IS close to this piece. I've played it over a dozen times, and if you think it's a wild ride to listen to it, imagine playing it. It never gets less intense, if anything it gets more because you know what's coming, like a story where you look forward to hearing your favorite parts over and over and you get to act them. Hands down my favorite piece of music. Som people can't take it, they have to leave the concert hall, it's too intense a live experience. The jingly sound you heard are called crotales, like a very intense glockenspiel, they are round discs.

So, if you haven't done so yet, I recommend watching the ballet performance of this work. And keep in mind, it's a celebration of Spring: Earth wakes up, kids play silly games, old sage kisses Earth, unlucky-but-highly-honored virgin dances herself to death in tribute to Earth

In my mind, this piece is so major that it splits musical history in 2: before and after it was composed. It changed everything. BTW, it describes a human sacrifice in some tribes; it’s interesting how you felt that without knowing.

You're lucky to see this version; Conductor Simon Rattle makes the music easier to understand.

It is one of the most DIFFICULT piece for the symphony to play as well, ESPECIALLY for the STRINGS!!! You should see the sheet music for the violins, viola, cello and double bass. It's unbelievable (my Dad played violin, and also sax, clarinet and flute)

WHAT THE FUCK THERE’S A REACTION!? I GOTTA FUCKING CHECK OUT THE DANCE OF THE EARTH PART BRO

FINALLY

Day 22 (same day just multiple) of asking Gidi to react to Sarasate- Introduction and Tarantella played by Nathan Milstein

Great piece for a reaction, I enjoyed this!! Please listen to the second half too. Stravinsky is very interesting, Firebird and Petrushka are also awesome

This was written as a ballet, based loosely in ancient pagan Russia, in which a virgin girl from the village is selected to dance herself to death as a sacrifice to the gods. Here is a recreation of the original (sadly lost) choreography. It took the couple responsible for the recreation decades of research: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jo4sf2wT0wU.html

Yessiiiir!!!!🔥🔥🔥

There was a riot at the first performance. The orchestra couldn't hear itself. The audience was outraged by what they heard. That was in 1913. I think it was put on as a ballet at that performance. It was to do with the sacrifice of a maiden to the gods. A pagan ritual.

February 2024! FANTASTIC!!! And - everybody should read about the night of the premiere... C R A Z Y . . .💙💙💙💙💙🦩✨✨✨✨✨

I first saw/heard this live in London in the 70s. I was on the edge of my seat. I have listened to it at least once a year ever since......and I still find new things within it. It's truly a masterpiece

"Whoa, where did that come from?" That's a very common reaction post-intro to the Rite of Spring.

The heavy stuff is the sacrifice of the virgin!

This pieces and others around the same time period are responsible for what is essentially the sound of the 20th century, and much of what film scores would become in the decades that followed. This is pushing toward greater dissonance, and ambiguity. Adding that into the very structured, and harmonically clear music which came before, created some of the most beautiful compositions ever written. Unfortunately, some felt the need to push toward total ambiguity. The problem was that there's a point at which that just becomes random noise.

I was curious where are you originally from? I love your accent? 🙂

Nature's life forms' struggle for existence and dominance

I also recommend The Firebird. Also more accessible and more spectacular imho.

"What was that?" Yup...

Disney Fantasia included this piece did animation. Turning it into the story of the creation of earth as understood by science at the time. The ompahs were turned into mud pots and volcanoes. There's a fight between a trex and segasaurous and ending with the death of the dinosaurs due to climate change

It was so much fun seeing you hear "Le Sacre" for the first time! Can't wait for part two. You might like "La Noche de los mayas" by the great Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uenaA6djuzQ.html

I can't urge you enough to watch the joffrey ballet performance to Le Sacre du Printemps as it was called when it was debuted in Paris. That ballet was scrapped after nine performances because it was epic. It was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, it's on my channel and has been for over 15 years and music students pretty much say the same thing. They thought the music was scary but now they can't sleep with the lights out have to seeing the ballet

Love this, such an amazing performance. I nearly cried just now during “games of rival tribes” - such exhilarating scenes watching probably 100 people do such virtuosic things - and that’s exactly why I love my job as an orchestral cellist. I’ve played this a few times - I find it such terrifying music. It’s scaaaaary. Apparently the idea for the ballet about a girl dancing herself to death came to him in a nightmare. I loved watching you react - and I got goosebumps with you! Xx

Loved your reaction! It reminded me of my reaction as a teen 50 years ago: "WTF is this thing I am hearing?!?!" Like you, it blew my mind and opened up an entirely new world of music to me. To see it happening to you, too, kinda made me tear up a little, and I was feeling all those goosebumps. So cool. As so many of the other comments have said, this reaction was typical of the people who heard it back in 1911, and continues to blow peoples' mind today. Igor S is definitely legendary!! This piece is the gateway drug to modern classical music. Love your sincerity! Keep on enjoying music!

Disney's Fantasia. Everytime, I think of Dinosaurs.

Truly EPIC composition. I was first introduced to this as a kid in the form of fighting dinosaurs in Disneys Fantasia, cherish that movie till this day.

A masterpiece of the Russian music school of the 20th century. But non appreciated in it's time. Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky, was not everyone. Had a music teacher and orchestrator of tremendous class and level of skill. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

To me it’s primal. If the creators wanted music to accompany the tumultuous creation of the universes, I think they would choose Stavinsky’s Rite of Spring. That’s just my opinion because in my head I envision the beginning of the universes.

U should react to his firebird, it’s really powerful and it’s sooo good!

Listen to the part from around 9:00 to just before 12:00, and then go listen to Vanilla Fudge's cover of "Some Velvet Morning". You don't often hear a mashup of Stravinsky with Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra!

Very interesting reaction - and look: GIDI's face, min. 4:07, is really very similar to Stravinsky's (it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Igor%27_F%C3%ABdorovi%C4%8D_Stravinskij#/media/File:Igor_Stravinsky_Essays.jpg), a reincarnation of him?

I recommend you to watch petruska ballet

The Bassoon solo at the beginning has lyrics: "I'm not an English Horn, I'm not an English Horn." This is a long-standing joke in professional orchestras. The register is high for the bassoon, more in the English Horn range. 😉 Just a bit of inside trivia...

the end of Part 1, from Procession of the Sage to the Dance of the Earth is one of my favorite parts :3 but JUST WAIT TIL PART 2 omg. You'll really feel the primal passions of prehistoric Russia. Gotta hear Les Noces at some point, it's very different, but the sound-world is so different... extremely percussive (huge percussion section + 4 pianos and chorus) it's wild. And then Firebird is even MORe different and much less dissonant, but it's SO GORGEOUS. But yeah, Stravinsky is OG.

Could you please also try Beethoven's grand fugue (Grosse Fuge)? It's a quartet but it's also full of "modern" intense.

Is there an episode on Beethoven's Kreutzer sonata. Take the 1st movement from Ashkenazy and Perlman. This is the BEST record evere made in history. Even after the Sacre (in which there us no perfect record)

Still waiting for Mozart Symphony no 41.........

GIDI - I just subscribed to your channel. Please take my advice - Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, the second movement (the Allegreto). Trust me. TRUST me, GIDI.

Even tho it might not be true, the story about this piece being played for the first time and causing riots within the crowd always made this piece feel more primal and fascinating to me. An absolute unit.

You've asked a ton of questions. Time for you to actually look up some answers for yourself. It is worth it for this piece.

Stravinsky liked to compose on a piano that he kept in his closet so he wouldn't be bothered by other things.

Kind of ironic that he mentioned “War” given that World War I happened a year after this was written.

I was wondering when you were going to get around to this. Heheh.

You should have used the Paris opera event live recording instead of Rattle's version. You will see horses on the stage!

Finster means dark, but dark means "dunkel", but finster is more...

One of the bad-assest pieces of classical heavy metal ever... :-)

That intro music... KH1 Wonderland theme?

yay riot piece🎉🎉

You need to watch what Disney did with this music....the apocalypse

It is goose-bumpy.

Also, listen to the last movement of The Firebird Suite if you really wanna hear something fire. Literally.