# I need help identifying a movement in the Rite of Spring



## retroglamour (Dec 29, 2009)

Hi. I hope I am in the right place. 

I have done many searches online and on youtube trying to identify the specific movement in the Rite of Spring by Stravinsky. No luck. You see, I am thinking that I want to get a tattoo of a certain few measures of one of the movements, and trying to read through the full orchestral version of the score is mind numbing (at least for me). I've found a website that has it broken it down into each movement, but I'm not able to figure out which movement is which simply by the music (which is embarrassing) but if I'm going to get it tattooed, it should be right (right?) 

So anyway, I'm pretty sure the movement is "The Sacrifice - Ritual Action of the Elders". If any of you have the recording from the Fantasia soundtrack, it's the music that starts at the 20:30 mark. 

I've been able to find CDs on amazon and similar sites that have the tracks broken down by the movements, but the problem is that the "previews" they give are not long enough. 

Any help would be appreciated and if I'm in the wrong place kindly let me know. This is my first time posting. 

Oh, and interestingly enough, I had not read the tattoo thread until after I signed up for my membership here (for the purpose of asking this question). 

Many thanks for any and all help.


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## kmisho (Oct 22, 2009)

I know Fantasia and the Rite of Spring very well. I bet I can figure it out if you can tell me what's happening in the movie at that point.


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## retroglamour (Dec 29, 2009)

I know it's after the dinosaurs have died and after they've made their grueling trip through the desert. I'm almost certain it's when the earth starts to rise up, where rocks are pushing through the earth and there are waves and overall it's very chaotic.

For the heck of it, I opened my version to the about the 18:00 mark, and tried to follow along the score of "Ritual Action of the Elders" I found. I was actually able to follow it pretty much until just before the part I like, which is when I got lost. But now at least I am pretty sure that it's the last half of that movement.


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## kmisho (Oct 22, 2009)

Here's your problem. The movement is out of order from the original in the film!

I'm pretty sure what you're looking for is the Danse de la terre (Dance of the Earth), which is at the end of the FIRST part.

"The scene erupts into a frenzied celebration, drums, trumpets, horns, and strings rippling ecstatically!"


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## kmisho (Oct 22, 2009)

Also, for the purposes of a tattoo, the two piano scoring (by Stravinsky himself) might be the best way to go.

http://www.amazon.com/Spring-Piano-Hands-Classical-Keyboard/dp/0486445399


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## retroglamour (Dec 29, 2009)

Oh, are you serious? If that's the case I feel violated. ugh!

*"The scene erupts into a frenzied celebration, drums, trumpets, horns, and strings rippling ecstatically!" * - that sounds 100% correct.

Just for fun I opened the score of Danse de la terre and tried to follow along at the 20:30 mark. Now I'm even more confused. I have found the part of the score that immediately follows the part I'm trying to find, but for the life of me, I cannot find the exact part I want. How frustrating!

But thank you for your help! Who knows how long it would have taken me to realize I was looking at the totally wrong movement.


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## retroglamour (Dec 29, 2009)

kmisho said:


> Also, for the purposes of a tattoo, the two piano scoring (by Stravinsky himself) might be the best way to go.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Spring-Piano-Hands-Classical-Keyboard/dp/0486445399


Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the idea.


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## kmisho (Oct 22, 2009)

I know there are people on this forum who could probably give you the actual rehearsal number, but you never know who's going to be around.

My problem is that I don't have actually have a copy of the score to go by, but I have looked at it many times. I still think it's some part of the dance of the earth.

That part of the score is very complicated and not the easiest thing in the world to look at without a high degree of skill.


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## retroglamour (Dec 29, 2009)

I may look when I get home and have a piano that I can fool around on - at least then I can play out some of the parts that I couldn't follow while listening along. 

I think you are right about it being part of Danse de la terre. Like I said, the part that immediately follows the part I'm looking for is very clearly in the middle of that movement. If I really take the time to sit down and study it, hopefully I can find it!


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## kmisho (Oct 22, 2009)

Thinking about it some more, I think it's might be at the end of the dance, just the last few pages.


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## andruini (Apr 14, 2009)

It has to be the start of the Dance of the Earth.. The thing is, that movement is marked Prestissimo, so maybe what sounds like a few bars of music to you, is in actuality a couple of pages of the work. So when you try to follow it, you think you're in the first few bars, trying to recognize something, when the work itself is pages away already .


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## retroglamour (Dec 29, 2009)

OK, thanks to both of your suggestions, I think I have figured out exactly where it is. It is towards the end of Danse de la Terre, the last 3 or 4 pages. I hope I'm allowed to post this link but this is where I found it:

http://nlib.org.ua/score/orchestra/stravinsky/vs-07.pdf

the part I was looking for starts on page 74, immediately after the time changes to 9/4 (!!!)

there are still a few things I don't understand, for example in my version the timpanis are going into what sounds like a crazy crescendo for several measures before the other instruments come in. I don't see that in the music there but everything else fits. And for the life of me, what the heck is "Archi" and "***/C-***"? What instruments do those stand for? It's driving me crazy.

Thanks again!


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## kmisho (Oct 22, 2009)

Just to confirm...you have indeed found it.

As to your question, not timpani. It's the gran cassa, written in the score as Gr. c, i.e. the bass drum.

Archi are the strings, the whole string section. The singular is archo, meaning bow.
*** is short for Fagotto, the bassoon. C *** is the Contrabassoon.

These are Italian terms.


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## Ian Elliott (Nov 15, 2010)

Don't go by Fantasia. It breaks up the music and presents it in a different order from that in which Stravinsky composed it. No wonder you can't find it. Get the Pierre Boulez version. The sacrificial music is at the end. Listen for the long sequence of drum beats and then you will be in the last tableau of the ballet. The last tableau has two sections but no pause between them. The last section is the sacrifical dance.


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