1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: Hello, and Happy Saturday. I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: Holly Frying. Not long ago, we read an email from 3 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,159 Speaker 1: listener Ava, who was responding to our episode on the 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: Nutcracker and suggested we do something similar about the right 5 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: of Spring. I mentioned that former host of the show 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: had done one on the right of Spring riot, and 7 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: I was not sure how far it went beyond the 8 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: riot itself because I hadn't listened to it in a while. 9 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,159 Speaker 1: Now I have listened to it. I think maybe I 10 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: had not listened to it ever, because a lot of 11 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: it felt like new information to me. The episode does 12 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: indeed talk about right of spring as a piece of music, 13 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:44,599 Speaker 1: it's influences on both music and ballet. So we are 14 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: pulling it out for today's Saturday Classic. This is from 15 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: previous host Sarah and Bablina and it came out on June. 16 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 17 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 18 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: I'm Fair Dowdy and I'm to bling a truck rebording 19 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: and today we're gonna be doing a listeners suggestion. So 20 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: dance teacher Emily wrote in to suggest that we cover 21 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: the ballet Ruth, and she said she couldn't guarantee us 22 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: an exhimation. She knows that's one of our favorite topics, 23 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: as it long has been. But she also said that 24 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: the material really sold itself. They're great dancers, they're great composers. 25 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: There's an influential impressario. Plus there are a lot of 26 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: scandals and mental breakdowns and some pretty salacious performances to 27 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: the Afternoon of the Fawn. I think that's all I 28 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: have to say there. If you you know about dance. 29 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:44,680 Speaker 1: If you don't, you can go look that one up 30 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: on your on your own if you want. She's not 31 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: going to get into the details. But what we really 32 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: got drawn into was the promise of a riot here. 33 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: You know how we love those. On May there was 34 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: a riot during the debut of the Right of Spring. 35 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: And this was different from the last artistic riot that 36 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: we podcasted on. You may remember it, the Astra Place riot. 37 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: And that one wasn't about the work, which was Macbeth. 38 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: That the standard question. It was about the rivalry rather 39 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: between the two actors, about class conflict, and about Anglo 40 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: American intentions as well. Yeah, this one, though, is about 41 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: the work. It's the premier. It's about the dance and 42 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: the music and even the costumes get people in rage, 43 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: all shockingly and at the time disturbingly different and new 44 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: to the audience. That was what set them off in 45 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 1: the first place. But before we get to the people involved, 46 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: we're gonna be talking about a few of them, the composer, 47 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: the choreographer, the patron of the arts we mentioned, or 48 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: before we start talking about the work, just try to 49 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: imagine a piece of music and a dance that just 50 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: was so out side of the norm, so outside of 51 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 1: what you were used to, that and infuriated you to 52 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 1: the point of getting out of your plush red seat 53 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: and screaming at the stage and and getting really really upset, 54 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: yelling and causing a ruckus. I mean, just just try 55 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,799 Speaker 1: to get in that mindset before we get going. Yeah, 56 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: and once you have that going, we'll start off with 57 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: a little bit of background. So when The Right of 58 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: Spring premiered, all indications suggested that it would be a 59 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: huge hit. First and foremost, it was written by young 60 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: superstar composer Igor Stravinsky. I'm sure many of you have 61 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: heard of him. It was choreographed by the beloved dancer 62 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: Vasilov Nijinski, and of course it was staged by the 63 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: hottest ballet company in Europe at the time, the Ballet 64 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: Russ a complete smash since Sergei diagle Of started it 65 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: five years before this. Yeah, and because he's the man 66 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: who founded the company, and because he brought together the 67 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: people who were involved in creating the Right of Spring, 68 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: it's only fitting we talked about him. I really think 69 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: that all three of those men we mentioned could be 70 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: their own podcast subchecks. They have very interesting lives. But 71 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: kind of condensed it a little because we're talking about 72 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: the riot, not everybody involved. But Diago Love was born 73 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: in Russia in eighteen seventy two. Two landed nobility, and 74 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: he had, I guess, kind of a sad start to life. 75 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: His mother died only a few weeks after he was born. 76 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: His father was a colonel, but his stepmother really was 77 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: an influential presence in his life. She encouraged his artistic 78 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: inclinations and he had a really happy, luxurious upbringing. The family, 79 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: for instance, had an apartment in St. Petersburg, a country 80 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: estate and a provincial twenty room mansion, and they were 81 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 1: really friendly and open. They hosted people they had folks 82 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: living with them. I think I saw in one account 83 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: the either the estate or the twenty room mansion had 84 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: an outdoor table, a porch table that seated fifty. So 85 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: you can imagine the kind of upbringing this this man had. Yeah, 86 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: and his family was really generous. But unfortunately that generosity 87 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: caught up to them. They went bankrupt and diego Lov 88 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: had to support them while studying law. But he also 89 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 1: indulged in his artistic side once in a while. He 90 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 1: started hanging out with a group of sophisticates he met 91 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: through his cousin slash boy friend, not something that you 92 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: think slash yeah. So this group made up some of 93 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: the core members of the eventual Ballet Ruse. So after graduation, 94 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: diego Lov decided he would become a composer instead of 95 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: a lawyer. He would follow his dreams through that artistic inclination. 96 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: And at this time one of the pre eminent Russian 97 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: composers was Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov, and classical music fans will 98 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: know him as one of the Five or the Mighty Handful, 99 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,360 Speaker 1: a group of young composers who decades earlier had tried 100 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: to get Russian music back to its roots. They took 101 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: inspiration from throwing things like Russian folklore and fairy tales, 102 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: and they scored the Imperial ballets and operas. Yeah, so 103 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: diego Lov got this meeting with Rimsky Korsakov, who at 104 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: this point it is sort of the godfather of Russian music. 105 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: And he has his work completely dismissed by this this 106 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 1: old master, and he does sort of stick up for 107 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: himself a little bit. I think he Actually he's kind 108 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: of smart, he I mean, and I mean that in 109 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,720 Speaker 1: a bad way. He I think he tells him, you're 110 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:04,479 Speaker 1: going to regret what you said. It's going to be 111 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: printed in your biography someday and you'll be so embarrassed, 112 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: and by then it'll be too late to take it back. 113 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: So I mean just imagining this young man saying this 114 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: to the master. But he did stop composing, so I 115 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: guess he took the lesson to heart. Diaglev decided that 116 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: was not his career track, probably for the best, because 117 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,919 Speaker 1: his true talent lay in management. He decided he'd become 118 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: a patron of the arts, not an artist, though of 119 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: course he had to. He had to be clever about 120 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: that because he was not a wealthy man anymore. If 121 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: you're going to be a patron of arts and not 122 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: have your own money, you've got to be resourceful. Yeah. So, 123 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: after a few years of staging artistic exhibitions in Russia 124 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: and a job at the then bureaucratic Imperial Theater, he 125 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: took his show on the road. For one thing, he 126 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 1: did this for a couple of reasons. For one thing, 127 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: he was patriotic. He wanted Europe to know his country. 128 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: But he also knew that just as all things French 129 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: were all the rage in Russia at the time, Parisians 130 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,719 Speaker 1: were also in chant to by the idea of old Russia, 131 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: its opulence, its exoticism, and so he thought that it 132 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: would be an easy cell. Yeah, they had a romantic 133 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: idea of what Russia was or what it is still. 134 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 1: So in nineteen o nine, Diagolov pulled the best dancers 135 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: from Russia and formed the Ballet Ruth. And the company's 136 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: early years really capitalized on that perception of Russia as 137 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: exotic and romantic. And if you look up some pictures 138 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: from the costumes, for instance, at this point, you can 139 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: you can tell that the flyers they're very they're almost 140 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: erotic in some cases and um. The epitome of that aesthetic, 141 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: that romantic, exotic aesthetic, was the company's principal dancer, Voslav Najynski, 142 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: and he eventually became Diaglov's lover. And Najynski was the 143 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: son of dancers, so he had grown up in this environment, 144 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: and he was really famous for his leaps, almost like 145 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: he could fly. So when he debuted in in Paris 146 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: and in the rest of your up, it was unlike 147 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: anything people had ever seen before. And I mean the 148 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: same goes for many of the other dancers in the company, 149 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: but Nijinsky in particular really stood out. The third member 150 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: of our trio also came in near the beginning of 151 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: this whole story of the Ballet rouss. He was also 152 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: young and also obviously Russian, Igor Stravinsky. Now Stravinsky was 153 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 1: the son of a famous operatic bass and he had 154 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: grown up just behind the Imperial Theater, so kind of 155 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: an auspicious place to grow up if you're interested in music. 156 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: I guess he took piano and music theory, and his 157 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,680 Speaker 1: house was filled with music and theater too, But still 158 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,200 Speaker 1: when it was time for school, he studied law and philosophy. 159 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: That seems to be a theme here, the study of law. 160 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: These would be lawyer. But while at St. Petersburg University, 161 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: he showed some of his early works to someone that 162 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: we have heard of before, the father of a fellow student, 163 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: none other than Rimsky Korsikov. So Rimsky Korsikov gave him 164 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: a better reaction than he had given to Diaglov, and 165 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: actually took him on as a private student. So his 166 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: story turned out a little better there for him, definitely. 167 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: Will Stravinsky obviously displayed some more talent at composing, but 168 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: Rimsky Corskov also helped him get some gigs going too, 169 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: so he started having performances, started having his music performed, 170 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: And Diaglov came into the picture in nineteen o nine 171 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: when he attended one of these performances and heard Stravinsky's 172 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: music and decided he wanted to commission him right away 173 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: for the Balletrue summer season, so got some music for that, 174 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: and then for the nineteen ten season he commissioned The Firebird. 175 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: And I mean, of course, this is probably one of 176 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: the most famous ballets. It's it's absolutely one that's staged 177 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 1: by most companies I think pretty frequently, right, even my 178 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: ballet company I was in in Northeast Alabama when I 179 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,719 Speaker 1: was growing up, did a production of the Firebird every year. 180 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: Were you in the Firebird? Know? I wasn't then at all. 181 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 1: I wasn't a nutcracker though, does that counting? Different composer, 182 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: completely different ballet, never mind moving on, But anyway, this 183 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: made Stravinsky blow up overnight, and then the next year 184 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: it was another hit for him and the ballet rous 185 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: with Petrushka, and in this one Nagynsky dance the lead. 186 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: But all the while, while Stravinsky is working on Petrushka, 187 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: he's also working on something else, something that has a 188 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: very modern sound, as we're going to learn, but something 189 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: that's ancient too, certainly has ancient roots. So we're gonna 190 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: have to go back again a little bit to to explain. 191 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: Stravinsky also wanted to make something uniquely Russian. He was 192 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:42,439 Speaker 1: also patriotic, like Rinsky, Korsakov or Diogolov, and he really 193 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,679 Speaker 1: liked fairy tales and Russian legends, especially so He had 194 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: grown up summering in a small village called Usta Lug, 195 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: and villagers would still come out and celebrate the harvest 196 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: and the planting during during his youth, and they'd celebrate 197 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: with festivals and dances, and they would sing songs with 198 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: their untrained voices and play homemade instruments and really just 199 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: have a good time. And it produced a very unique 200 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: sound that sort of captivated Stravinsky. So he wrote The 201 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:19,559 Speaker 1: Right of Spring to try to capture that celebratory chaos, 202 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: even though in the ballet's case, it's not just harvest festival. 203 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: It's not it's not um an entirely happy occasion. It's 204 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: a pagan human sacrifice. Spoiler alert In case you you 205 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: didn't know what happened at the end of the Right 206 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: of Spring, we gotta mention it. The chosen One, who 207 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: is a young maiden, dances herself to death. So it's 208 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: a disturbing story of celebration. Yeah. And to achieve that haphazard, 209 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: distorted sound of the celebration, and to imitate the untrained 210 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 1: voices and the homemade instruments, Stravinsky knew he'd have to 211 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,439 Speaker 1: manipulate the traditional instruments of the orchestra, so he paired 212 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 1: them up in odd combos. He would have one group 213 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: played triplets while the other one played quadruplets, and most memorably, 214 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: he moved some of the instruments so far outside of 215 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,480 Speaker 1: their range they became unrecognizable. So those are just a 216 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: few things he did to achieve that really unique sound. 217 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,440 Speaker 1: And here's what the Paris audience at the premiere first heard. 218 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: So that's a very unusual sound. And a composer who 219 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,839 Speaker 1: was in attendance at the premier, Camille San San, basically said, 220 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: what is that? What instrument is that? And his seat 221 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: mate told him it's the bassoon, And Saint San was 222 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: supposedly so scandalized by this information he reportedly said, if 223 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: that is a bassoon, I am a baboon and walked out. 224 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: So he did not like hearing the bassoon played in 225 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: this eerie, unusual register at all. Well, and that wasn't 226 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: even the only instrument that people had trouble with. Were 227 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: some other strange sounding instruments that chimed in as well. 228 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: There was an English horn, and e flat clarinet, a 229 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: bass clarinet, and actually a contemporary San Francisco Symphony musician 230 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: has described the sound as a quote jungle, just to 231 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,199 Speaker 1: give you an idea of what it what the impressions 232 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 1: might have been like. So people were hissing, they started 233 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: to yell somewhere cheering. A few folks liked it, they 234 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: wanted to keep hearing it. Then the first dance tableau 235 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: opened and the music made a kind of terrifying transition. Yeah, 236 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: so that's scary stuff. And you've just heard the music. 237 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: But we're going to talk about the dance to what 238 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: was going on on stage with this pounding, frightening music, 239 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: The dancers weren't gracefully pirouetting about. They were grouped in 240 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,679 Speaker 1: a circle. They were jumping up and down with both 241 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 1: feet together. And it looks painful. It looks very violent. 242 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: An Ajinsky dancer later recalled quote, with every leap, we 243 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: landed heavily enough to jar every organ in us. And 244 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 1: it and it looks like that. It looks heavy and uncomfortable. 245 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: But because the dancers were also doing this move where 246 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: they rest their heads on their hands and switch hands 247 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: and pitch their heads back and forth, some people started shouting, 248 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: get them a dentist. So people were not only upset 249 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: by what they were hearing, the strange bassoon noise and 250 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: all of that, but what they were seeing. And a 251 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: third issue was the costumes. The dancers weren't wearing these 252 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: scanty form fitting costumes that you know, some people at 253 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: the time we're going to the ballet to see that, 254 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: you know, they wanted to see dancers and and see 255 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: the classical, the pretty, you know, the really beautiful costs. 256 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: Exactly that the two to kind of get up and um, 257 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: these folks were wearing tunics, they were wearing long fake braids, 258 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: they had padded lace legs, and and you can look 259 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 1: up these costumes as I mentioned, but the best way 260 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 1: to picture it is almost like buck skins. There. They 261 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: don't look graceful, they look very primitive. And people they 262 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: hated it. They did not like that aspect of it. 263 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: Stravinsky panicked at this point and he starts to head backstage. 264 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: Diaglov and for his part, flashes the house lights at 265 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: this point, trying to calm people down. But the orchestra 266 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: kept playing, and diag Lov must have guessed that something 267 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: like this would go down. He he hadn't mentioned that 268 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: fear to Stravinsky or Najynski at all, but he had 269 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: told the conductor, Pierre Monte, to keep playing no matter what. 270 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,000 Speaker 1: So so the orchestra just keeps on playing the music, 271 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 1: which must have been difficult because there's some crazy rhythms 272 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: in the right of spring. I have to imagine it 273 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: would be tough to play if if you couldn't hear 274 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: what you were playing. But that wasn't the only problem. Yeah, 275 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: I mean what about the dancers. They couldn't hear either, 276 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: and it makes it pretty hard to dance if you 277 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 1: can't hear the beat of the music. So Najynski got 278 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 1: on a chair and leaned out to call off the 279 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,479 Speaker 1: numbers he was from, basically chanting for them, and Stravinsky 280 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: held us coat tails to keep him from falling. He 281 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: was leaned that far out, and the police were of 282 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:16,120 Speaker 1: course called in. And um, there's a really good quote, 283 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 1: I think from Harvard professor Thomas Kelly describing the effect 284 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,720 Speaker 1: of the music on the audience. He said, the pagans 285 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: on stage made pagans of the audience. And I mean, 286 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: we have to wonder who were these people? What this 287 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: is now a classic piece of music, it's a um, 288 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: it's a ballet that was certainly influential. Who were the 289 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: people who just couldn't stand it? And it was long 290 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: assumed that they were just kind of old fogies, you know, 291 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: they wanted to see, Like we mentioned earlier, the classic 292 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: too Too and and the pirouetting, but people didn't go 293 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:49,680 Speaker 1: to the ballet rous for that kind of experience anyway. 294 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: And recently, UM, one of the latest biographies on Diaglov, 295 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: has shaken up that assumption that that these were the 296 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: old fogies, said that they were actually the the avant garde, 297 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: the people who were at the head of trends. But 298 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,159 Speaker 1: they felt like this piece of music, this dance, just 299 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,719 Speaker 1: eclipsed even then. They didn't want to get left behind 300 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: so violently. They were one up to an edginess they were. 301 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: So of course, the right of Spring doesn't sound quite 302 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: so shocking now, and that's because a lot of later 303 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: twentieth century music was influenced by it. PBS actually hosts 304 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: this great series by the San Francisco Symphony called Keeping Score, 305 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,160 Speaker 1: and Sarah and I both watched it, and the program 306 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: called Stravinsky's score an artistic revolution, something that redefined twentieth 307 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: century music, and one of the symphonies musicians even calls 308 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: it rock and roll. And I think why it doesn't 309 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: sound so shocking to us now is because it is 310 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 1: very familiar. You you'll recognize it in later classical music, 311 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,239 Speaker 1: but in other music forms too. I mean, even if 312 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: you don't listen to it and I think that's rock 313 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: and roll, I mean, it clearly has an effect on 314 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,200 Speaker 1: on where music went for the rest of the century. 315 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,199 Speaker 1: And it certainly defines Stravinsky's work. I mean, a or 316 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: this the Firebird might have made him blow up overnight, 317 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: but this defined his career. And he did, of course 318 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: go on to enjoy a very long career, probably making 319 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 1: this even more impressive that he had something like this 320 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: so early on. He went on composing In the fifties 321 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: and sixties, he started composing twelve tone music, and he 322 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: lived until the nineteen seventies. Actually the recordings we heard 323 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: were conducted by Stravinsky. Yeah, and this work didn't just 324 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: influence music, it also influenced choreography as well. Uh, the 325 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:38,239 Speaker 1: choreography of Nijynski here was really influential. I mean, if 326 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: you look at it, it it looks like modern dance. That's 327 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:41,399 Speaker 1: what I thought when I first read about this. As 328 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:43,919 Speaker 1: well as well when you see it, I mean, the costumes, 329 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 1: the movements, everything kind of reminds you of that. But 330 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,640 Speaker 1: because The Right of Spring was only performed eight times, 331 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: and because Nijinsky had a mental breakdown at age twenty 332 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: nine and ended up spending the rest of his life 333 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: in and out of asylums. The choreography was until recently 334 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: presumed lost. Yeah, in nineteen seven, though, we have this 335 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: really interesting sort of forensic dance story. The Jeoffrey Ballet 336 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:10,919 Speaker 1: restored the original choreography, and they brought in a dance 337 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: historian and an art historian, and those two drew from 338 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: reviews and from dancers quotes, and from drawings and photos, 339 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 1: and even from Stravinsky's notes on the stage direction, which 340 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: had sort of general instructions like there are this many 341 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 1: groupings on the stage, but not exactly what they were 342 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: doing to to get that information, they finally found this 343 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: score with choreographic notes, and it was discovered in nineteen 344 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: eighty two. And to me, the idea of reconstructing a 345 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:45,480 Speaker 1: dance is so it's almost impossible for me to comprehend. Yeah, 346 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 1: it's one of those instances where history and art meet, 347 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: so clearly I think it's it's really fascinating. But when 348 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: watching the restored ballet, you also get a peek at 349 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: what the costumes would have looked like in action. They 350 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: were designed by Nicholas Rerick and they look primitive, but 351 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: all were really modern at the same time. And the 352 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:04,639 Speaker 1: fact that people would go to such trouble to restore 353 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,080 Speaker 1: a ballet really just speak to the effect and the 354 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 1: importance of the ballet Rouss On Dance. Yeah, after Diagal's 355 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:16,200 Speaker 1: death in the ballet rouss disbanded, I think it almost immediately, 356 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: but his employees branched out across the world to start 357 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: some of the pre eminent companies of today, the American 358 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet. They're 359 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: all direct descendants from the ballet routs as our companies everywhere. 360 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: So listener Emily, who we mentioned at the beginning of 361 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: this podcast, so that there would be no exhimation in 362 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: the story, but there actually is one of sorts. In 363 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: February of this year, the BBC reported that some footage 364 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,119 Speaker 1: of the Ballet rous the only known footage that is, 365 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: had been discovered mislabeled in an online archive in Diego Love. 366 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: I mean, the reason there was no footage before is 367 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 1: because he had prohibited filming of the ballet since he 368 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 1: didn't think that it could do his movements justice. So 369 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: it's an art, a stick exclamation. There's no body involved, 370 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 1: but some dance, you know, close enough. I'm I was 371 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,119 Speaker 1: pleased by by discovering this and getting to watch it. 372 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: It's a rehearsal, so it's it's not it's not the 373 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,199 Speaker 1: Right of Spring. It it's it is the nice costumes 374 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,959 Speaker 1: and it looks very proper, but still it's the ballet roofs, 375 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,360 Speaker 1: and it's it's all we got. And I just want 376 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 1: to mention, even if you haven't ever seen this ballet, 377 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: or you don't really even go to ballet or listen 378 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: to classical music, you probably are familiar with the Right 379 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 1: of Spring because it is maybe most famously associated with 380 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: Walt Disney's Fantasia. There's of course a long extended sequence 381 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:45,480 Speaker 1: of the Right of Spring with the dinosaurs, the you know, 382 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: it's it's kind of a sad part of Fantasia for sure. 383 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: I don't know if I've ever seen Fantasia. Oh no, 384 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: Share looks Sarah looks so shocked right now. I'm sure 385 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: I have like a VHS of it somewhere if you, 386 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,639 Speaker 1: if you still have a va are put up, you 387 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:03,959 Speaker 1: could look up. You could look at this part online. 388 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's not It's not the part that 389 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 1: you normally watch with Fantasia, like the Dancing Hippo or 390 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: Mickey and the Broom, but it's still a pretty pretty 391 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:23,640 Speaker 1: memorable scene in Fantasia. By so much for joining us 392 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,719 Speaker 1: on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 393 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address or a Facebook U 394 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: r L or something similar over the course of the show, 395 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: that could be obsolete now. Our current email address is 396 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 1: History Podcast at i heart radio dot com. Our old 397 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: health stuff works email address no longer works, and you 398 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: can find us all over social media at missed in History. 399 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: And you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, 400 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,800 Speaker 1: Google Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app, and wherever else 401 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Stuff You Missed in History Class 402 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,120 Speaker 1: is a production of Art Radio. For more podcasts from 403 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 404 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:11,879 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H m 405 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:12,239 Speaker 1: HM