STRAVINSKY

 

RITE OF SPRING (1913)

FIREBIRD SUITE (1919)

SCHERZO À LA RUSSE - Symphonic Version (1944)

TANGO NO.72 - Orchestral Version* (1940)

 

Budapest Festival Orchestra / Ivan Fischer

 

*orchestration by Felix Guenther, approved by Stravinsky and first performed by Benny Goodman

 

The recipe seems simple: take a simple melody of six notes and repeat it in the same order, accentuating a different note each time. For example:

1 2 3 4 2 5

1 2 3 4 2 5

1 2 3 4 2 5

 

Here we have the beginning of the Sacre du Printemps (with a short transition between lines 2 and 3)!

 

Next step: add a rhythmic pattern and repeat it many times. Prepare a few of these and combine them thoroughly until you get a polyrhythmic and polytonal mix! Finished.

 

With his simple recipe, Stravinsky changed the world. Many plants grew from this seed: beat, rock, rap, minimal music…

 

A pagan, sacrifice ritual with shocking music and shocking choreography: three exceptional talents - Roerich, Nijinsky and Stravinsky - brought about an artistic revolution with a masterstroke. 100 years later it still sounds fresh, pagan, scary, new and beautiful.

 

Iván Fischer (from liner notes)

 

Channel Classics Records SACD CCSSA32112