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Set background for Rite of Spring

 100 years ago last night, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring Ballet was first performed. It was an event. Actually it is always an event.
The NYTimes report shortly thereafter

It is and perhaps always be a monumental orchestral undertaking. I played in an orchestra that performed it years ago and knew it from conducting class so I learned it pretty well. That is the point of this post. I knew it as a performer and a conductor - both sides of the door so to speak. 

Giving and taking/following complicated directions isn't something most people are good at.  There are generals and there are privates.  A lot of privates would like to be generals but I'll wager that there are few generals who would like to be privates. Being a private is like playing violin in an orchestra. Don't take that wrong - but I mean it as there is very little individual control as you generally bow the same, use the same fingerings and positions, essentially try to make the section be a unified whole and contribute thusly. It takes superb self control to play in a section, 15 others or so, all playing the same thing, exactly the same way. Sometimes generals overlook that.

Anyway, back to the Rite of Spring (there is a short excerpt from it below). Try and look at it from the general/private point of view. Marvel at the complexity and unity. Admire that there is a general who leads but doesn't micro-manage.

Take that lesson to the office this morning.  That is the point of the post.


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