Le Sacre du Printemps - 1

Last week, when Louis asked us who didn't like "Le Sacre Du Printemps," I have to admit that I most definitely raised my hand! At the same time, I have to admit that at first I have not liked  most of the pieces that we have listened to in this course, however, as my comprehension and knowledge of them has grown, so too has my enjoyment. Nonetheless, my take on this piece has not really changed as of yet, even though I really am trying to keep an open mind about it. When I think about what specifically I haven't liked about this piece, I would have to say that it is the fact that there are so many inharmonic notes and that the music often seems to lack any structure or form (it sounds messy), which results in the music lacking beauty. 

So I figured that the best place to start would be by analyzing the first section, "The fertility of the Earth's" introduction. This piece starts with a bassoon solo, however, it is the accompaniment that I really didn't like; there is absolutely no harmony amongst these notes - this can really be heard at 0:28 and 0:55. While, I will say that the bassoon part is not ugly, and it is apparently derived from a Lithuanian folk tune, it may actually have been unattractive to its original audience because they wouldn't have been accustomed to hearing the bassoon play in such a high register. Then at 1:00,we have the entry of the deceptively named English Horn, which becomes chromatic. The texture thickens and becomes polyphonic, almost as though the different tunes are competing against each other: you can hear the oboe, bass clarinet and E-flat clarinet all repeating their own distinctive material independently of each other. This is particularly apparent at around 1:28 where the music is best described as messy. At approximately 1:57, when then hear, or at least get the sense of,  a momentary pulse introduced by the pizzicato strings, which proceeds to alternate with a couple of other woodwind sections. The music begins to build in intensity, reaching a chaotic climax at 3:02. The key word here really is, in my opinion, chaotic - the music doesn't really seem to be following any discernible pattern or form that I could hear. Then, once again we hear the bassoon playing from the opening section, but this time a semitone lower. Finally, the ostinato that will figure so greatly in the next section arrives before the section ends.