Two Skys

The reading for tomorrow's class includes music.  Hooray!  Of course, I had to look up the music that was being talked about to get a feel for just how "shocking" the sounds really were.  The book describes the music of Igor Stravinsky as being bold with "throbbing rhythms and dissonant harmonies" and having a "jarring effect."  I'm thinking that I've got to hear this because this just sounds really interesting!  I decided to look up The Rite of Spring which was choreographed by Nijinsky, who was also talked about in the text.  The descriptions of his choreography sounded about as bad being called "a series of frenzied leaps and wild wheeling rounds."  Wow, was I in for a surprise!  I'm thinking that jarring is definitely a good word for the music.  In fact, in one section, the instruments were very quiet, so I turned up the volume on my headphones.  Wrong decision!  I about jumped out of my skin as bass drums, violins, and brass instruments suddenly came out of nowhere!  The dance was perplexing as well.  I would have to agree with the description of frenzied and wild.  This video clip is just a small sampling of what I was watching.

Well, the music and choreography definitely show similarities to some of the art that we looked at earlier in the chapter.  There are several sculptures and paintings looking back that show similarities in thought, as in figure 32.2, which has some tribal references and distorted figures, and figure 32.15, which doesn't seem to have any resemblance to a recognizable form.  It seems as if Nijinsky was going back to tribal roots, and both Nijinsky and Stravinsky took away, at least in part, what we recognize as musical or dance form.  The dance, although skillfully done, is not very fun to watch.  It almost makes me uncomfortable because I don't understand it.  It seems very primal.  However, what I like about it is how much it mirrors the music and tells the story of the music incredibly well.  The music by itself could really tell a story.  I have to say that I love the music.  It may not be pretty in the same way that Baroque or Classical music is pretty, but it is interesting to listen to and keeps the listener hanging on to find out what comes next.  It's almost like a mystery.  You have to listen to the whole thing in order to see the whole picture.  I love how the sounds weave in and out and have all kinds of different rhythms.  It's like a buffet for your ears.  I would have to say that I'd rather listen to the music alone than watch the ballet with it, but the two together do say something about how the artists of this time were trying to make a brand new statement and come up with a new way of doing things.