Did Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring inspire rational thought or higher emotions?  Stravinsky’s stylistic diversity as a composer, conductor, and pianist created a musical masterpiece that was revolutionary in its design.  It pushed the boundaries of musical composition beyond anything else.  This description of the composition was the consensus of the day among his contemporaries.

Personally, the need to hear rational thought and logical rhythm was erased after hearing this piece several times. The  surrendered rational thought came from having  experienced Stravinsky’s  musical emotionalism.. The heart felt emotionalism came from listening to the composition with its intensity and with its thunderous brutality.  Those powerful, overwhelming musical rhythms trumped my sensibilities.  There was an unnerving quality that was felt throughout the untamed piece.  Those powerful rhythms gave no time for relaxation, and the relentlessness of the horns and percussion enveloped my senses into a mood of emotional surrender.

As the crescendo climbed, emotions rose with the music, as the rite of spring was witnessed outside my window.  In the early morning, the sun was met by the cacophony of birds chirping to the celebration of life.  A bird feeder hung from a crepe myrtle tree that invited the migration of birds to feed.  The flutes and horns slid with sounds of tweets and chirps as the small birds relished the nourishing seeds.  The bassoon played its magical sounds of wonder and danger as a Red Tailed Hawk soared above the bird feeder. The hawk descended with the bassoon’s increased volume and intensity until a thunderous pounding of kettle drums announced the brutality of a killed finch. The sounds were felt with a crescendo of emotion.  Stravinsky’s the Rite of Spring came to my home.