It's said that Stravinsky composed the "Dance of the Adolescents" in Rite of Spring based on a dream he had of a young girl dancing herself to death while a group of elders stood around her and watched. This haunting notion is ever-present in the mood of the piece. There is something so dark and so beautiful about the dream and it is this same eerie intrigue that makes the music so irresistible. Yesterday I got the wonderful opportunity to page-turn for Susan DeWitt Smith while she played the two-piano arrangement of Rite of Spring at the Keller Auditorium in Portland, Oregon. Being so close to the dark and intense energy was an absolutely unforgettable experience.
short analysis of the dance of the adolescents:
The pounding polychords (an E major triad and an Eb seventh chord) in the second piano part which are played with an eigth note rhythm and displaced accents that destroy any feeling of meter, introduce the darkly tense mood of this piece and serve as the only tones that are heard for the first 8 bars. The use of this dissonant bitonality introduced immediately not only serves to set the mood of the piece but also becomes a form of structure in the piece which jarringly seems to almost interrupt many of the melodic motives that are introduced.
short analysis of the dance of the adolescents:
The pounding polychords (an E major triad and an Eb seventh chord) in the second piano part which are played with an eigth note rhythm and displaced accents that destroy any feeling of meter, introduce the darkly tense mood of this piece and serve as the only tones that are heard for the first 8 bars. The use of this dissonant bitonality introduced immediately not only serves to set the mood of the piece but also becomes a form of structure in the piece which jarringly seems to almost interrupt many of the melodic motives that are introduced.
