Stravinsky To Sholar Series : Comparisons And Contrasts
1 – The Sage
The purpose of this series of 24 essays is to compare and contrast Igor Stravinsky’s revolutionary ballets “The Rites Of Spring” and “The Firebird Suite” with Kelvin Sholar’s arrangements based on the in “Rites Of Fire”. This essay contains score excerpts as well as videos to listen to both works.
1. The Sage
“The Sage” is also titled “The Oldest And Wisest One” in some scores. It occurs four measures before rehearsal number 72, which is titled “Dance Of The Earth” of “The Dancing Out Of The Earth”.
This is one of the quietest, slowest, short and most subtle sections found in the entire work. The dynamic marking is p in the score; it transitions to ppp for the last chord. The metronome marking is quarter note = 42 bpm, marked Lento. This section is only four measures long. Only four types of instrument play in this section: Bassoon 1-3 (written fag.), Contra-Bassoon 1-2 (written c. fag), Timpani and Contra-bass play in the first three measures while the string section plays the last chord (Violin 1-2, Viola, Cello 1-2 and Contra-bass).
You can hear “The Sage” in the following video link of “The Rites Of Spring” by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (1958) conducted by Leonard Bernstein (with Score) / (See 14:17-14.39)
In Sholar’s work, synthetic strings play the entire four measures. Various ambient sound effects also play; they move back and forth across the stereo field.
Both Stravinsky’s and Sholar’s work can be compared: Sholar’s is a transcription in the same key, and is the same length. To contrast the instrumentation is different: acoustic in Stravinsky while electronic in Sholar. Sholar’s final chord changes dynamic; it is louder than the preceding part – due to the number of sounds that play simultaneously.
Next Week: We will explore “Augurs Of Spring, Dances Of The Young Girls“