斯特拉文斯基: 春之祭

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

Part I: the adoration of the earth.
· Introduction
· The Augurs of Spring (Dances of the Young Girls)
· Ritual of Abductions
· Spring Rounds (Round Dance)
· Ritual of the Two Rival Tribes
· Procession of the Oldest and Wisest One (The Sage)
· The Kiss of the Earth (Adoration of the Earth, or the Wise Elder)
· The Dancing Out of the Earth
The curtain rises to reveal young men and women in separate groups. Their surroundings are primitive and dominated by the dark forces of nature. At first the dances are light hearted but they slowly change to have more aggressive and savage movements. The young men take possession of the women and carry them offstage. A fight ensues until a wise old man makes peace. There is a stunned silence, then the men throw themselves on the ground in worship, rise again, and start an even more frenzied dance.

Part II: the sacrifice.
· Introduction
· Mystic Circle of the Young Girls
· The Glorification of the Chosen One
· Evocation of the Ancestors (Ancestral Spirits)
· Ritual Action of the Ancestors
· Sacrificial Dance (the Chosen One)
The young women are standing on the stage near a fire, one of them will be chosen as a sacrifice to the earth. The chosen one stands alone and still in the middle of the stage after a mystic dance, and the young members of the tribe gather around her and dance in a "crescendo or brutal excitement." Finally the chosen one joins them and the dancing grows more and more violent until it climaxes and the chosen maiden falls exhausted and dies. The men then carry her over to the sacred stone and fall prostrate. The rite is over.