(Optional blog prompt B)

On May 29th, 1913, the premiere of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” descended into chaos, as the audience was shocked by the radical nature of the performance.  Although it is unclear to which aspect of the performance the crowd’s rage was directed, it was most likely the combination of an untraditional use of dissonant harmonies and a never before seen take on stage choreography. According to the BBC article “Did The Rite of Spring really spark a riot?”, the crowd was anticipating an uproar, as there was controversy surrounding the ballet’s choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky, in relation to his previous contribution to Debussy’s ballet, “Jeux”. Clearly, Upper class citizens of the early 1900’s (of whom the audience almost exclusively consisted) were less open to experimentation in music than the general populous of today, who have instant access to any type of music, making them less protective of the sanctity of a single genre. Many people during this period, which can be called the contemporary revolution, still had rigid views on what was acceptable to include in music and art, while others were beginning to adopt contemporary art as the new normal. This clashing of opinions was a likely catalyst to the riots that took place. A similar event occurred on November 27th, 1926, when the violent and sexual subject matter of Bela Bartok’s “The Miraculous Mandarin” caused the audience to protest after the curtains closed. The story of the ballet surrounds three thugs who use a prostitute to lure men into their room and mug them. The story ends after “the mandarin”, whom the prostitute immediately falls in love with, is brought into their room. He is brutally stabbed and beaten before dying in the girl’s embrace. Unlike the premiere of “The Rite of Spring”, the audience at the premiere of “The Miraculous Mandarin” were not prepared for the obscene subject matter of the ballet, and the show’s closing was met with booing and whistling, which eventually led to protests and moral outrage in Cologne, Germany. Unfortunately, the crowd was unable to look past the graphic nature of the ballet, and the beautiful theme of love amidst a corrupt world was overlooked. There is a reason these two ballets are still remembered, however; They were both revolutionary, testing the boundaries of what was acceptable in their period while expanding the possibilities for music in the future.

 

https://muswrite.blogspot.com/2014/05/bartok-miraculous-mandarin-suite.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/3w63/