Le Sacre du Printemps - 2

This week I have chosen to analyze the fith scene of the first part, "The Game of the Rival Tribes."

 The scene begins with the drums playing in the background creating, or perhaps rather emphasizing, the primitive atmosphere of the section.  The first theme is then introduced very quickly (less than 10 seconds into the piece), with the woodwinds playing the main melody and the brass, percussion, and string instruments accompanying. In fact, this theme was first heard earlier in part 1 in the "Ritual of Abduction," and in keeping with so much of this entire ballet it is most definitely dissonant and thus not really all that pleasant to listen to if I am entirely honest. Furthermore, the meter is irregular, which adds to the confusion of the theme, and the texture of the music is polyphonic - almost as though the different melody lines are competing to be heard (like the two rival tribes)- creating an air of tension.  This first theme is built up from a number of segments of descending chromatic scales played by various different instruments, and the instruments change very frequently and quickly which gives the music a very broken feeling, in that it cannot build up momentum. I am not entirely sure what this frequent change in music is supposed to achieve, but there is no doubt that the music has a very broken feeling as a result. The short instrumental interjections almost come as short jabs, perhaps a reference to the two rivaling tribes battling each other. Nonetheless, the music still has this primitive feeling due to the percussion interjections, for example at 0:31, as it begins to build in tension.

At 0:36, there is a change in the tone of the music, before the introduction of the second theme. Here we hear that the music changes in tone, perhaps this is due to a key change - I was unsure. However, the music is definitely played in a more light hearted way, in part due to the higher pitch of the notes. This part is played by the woodwind and high strings. Then, we have the introduction of the second "Hollywood like" theme, which you can for example hear at 0:54. This 'happier' theme, contrasts with the first theme greatly due to its lighter tone. The music has also lost its dissonance. However, this second theme is short lived as we hear the trombones at 1:02, which introduces another change in mood in the music. It becomes much more regular in rhythm and louder with a number of instruments crescendoing. At this point what was most noticeable was that the brass and woodwinds would hold long notes, while the strings continue to play as normal making them stand out, as at 1:40.