Lockdown Listening #11: Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring

BRONZE

  1. This is a piece of music written for a ballet - pick your two favourite sections and write about how you might imagine some dancers moving in response to the music

  2. What about the music do you think might have made people feel uncomfortable when it was first played?

  3. Is it easy to feel a beat in the music? Does the answer to this change depending on which section you are listening to?

  4. Pick a different two sections and write about the different dynamics you can hear (loud/soft moments).

  5. Draw a picture that you think shows the style of the music.

SILVER

  1. Can you find any recurring ideas that are woven between the different movements? Make a note of them. They might be rhythmic or melodic.

  2. Find 3 examples of musical ‘sound effects’ - eg where the use of a certain instrument or section is to portray something that creates sounds outside of the musical environment and isn’t melodic. Write about how Stravinsky achieves this.

  3. Have a go at composing an example of your own musical sound effect.

  4. ‘This piece is not musical in the conventional sense’ - how far do you agree? Look at arguments on both sides of the debate.

  5. Find 6 examples of extended playing techniques in the music and write about their effect on the piece.

GOLD

  1. To what extent do you agree that this music is pioneering?

  2. Write a side of A4 about Stravinsky’s use of tessitura. How is it unconventional and what effect does this have?

  3. Pick 2 examples of interesting cross rhythms and try to notate them. (Don’t worry about pitch, just use single-line staves)

  4. What about this music gives a sense of primal instinct? Choose 3 musical examples and write a short paragraph about each.

  5. Look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOZmlYgYzG4 - in what ways are the music and movement related as one form of art?

Benjamin JacksonComment