Synopsis and Structure
Stravinsky has described The Rite of Spring as "a musical-choreographic work, pagan Russia ... unified by a single idea: the mystery and great surge of the creative power of Spring". The work has no specific plot or narrative, but should be considered as a succession of choreographed episodes.
The French titles of parts and movements are given in the form established in 1913. There have been numerous variants of the English translations; those shown are from the 1967 edition of the score.
| Number |
Movement (Original French) |
English translation | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part I: L'Adoration de la Terre (Adoration of the Earth) | |||
| 1 | Introduction |
Introduction | |
| 2 | Les Augures printaniers | Augurs of Spring | The celebration of spring begins in the hills, with pipers piping and young men telling fortunes. |
| 3 | Jeu du rapt | Ritual of Abduction | An old woman enters and begins to foretell the future. Young girls arrive from the river, in single file. They begin the "Dance of the Abduction". |
| 4 | Rondes printanières | Spring Rounds | The young girls dance the Khorovod, the "Spring Rounds". |
| 5 | Jeux des cités rivales | Ritual of the Rival Tribes | The people divide into two groups in opposition to each other, and begin the "Ritual of the Rival Tribes". |
| 6 | Cortège du sage: Le Sage | Procession of the Sage: The Sage | A holy procession leads to the entry of the wise elders, headed by the Sage who brings the games to a pause and blesses the earth. |
| 7 | Danse de la terre | Dance of the Earth | The people break into a passionate dance, sanctifying and becoming one with the earth. |
| Part II: La Sacrifice (The Sacrifice) | |||
| 8 | Introduction |
Introduction | |
| 9 | Cercles mystérieux des adolescentes | Mystic Circles of the Young Girls | The young girls engage in mysterious games, walking in circles. |
| 10 | Glorification de l'élue | Glorification of the Chosen One | One of the young girls is selected by fate, being twice caught in the perpetual circle, and is honoured as the "Chosen One" with a marital dance. |
| 11 | Evocation des ancêtres | Evocation of the Ancestors | In a brief dance, the young girls invoke the ancestors. |
| 12 | Action rituelle des ancêtres | Ritual Action of the Ancestors | The Chosen One is entrusted to the care of the old wise men. |
| 13 | Danse sacrale (L'Elue) | Sacrificial Dance | The Chosen One dances to death in the presence of the old men, in the great "Sacrificial Dance". |
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“A structure becomes architectural, and not sculptural, when its elements no longer have their justification in nature.”
—Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)