Sacrificial Dance

E752062

Sacrificial Dance is the violently intense, climactic final section of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet *The Rite of Spring*, depicting a chosen maiden dancing herself to death in a pagan ritual.

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ballet excerpt
musical movement
orchestral piece
alsoKnownAs Danse sacrale NERFINISHED
Sacrificial Dance (The Chosen One) NERFINISHED
characteristic dense orchestration
extreme rhythmic complexity
frequent meter changes
high dynamic intensity
irregular accents
ostinato patterns
violent orchestral sonorities
composer Igor Stravinsky NERFINISHED
depicts chosen maiden dancing herself to death
human sacrifice
pagan ritual
dramaticFunction climactic finale of The Rite of Spring
followsInWork Ritual of the Ancestors NERFINISHED
genre 20th-century classical music
ballet music
hasSubject The Chosen One NERFINISHED
influenced film and media scoring techniques for violent climaxes
later 20th-century ballet music
key no fixed key center
languageOfTitle English
movementNumber 2
notableFor influence on 20th-century rhythm in classical music
innovative rhythmic structure
technical difficulty for orchestra
orchestration large symphony orchestra
originalBalletCompany Ballets Russes NERFINISHED
originalChoreographer Vaslav Nijinsky NERFINISHED
originalConductor Pierre Monteux NERFINISHED
originalLanguageOfTitle French
partOf The Rite of Spring NERFINISHED
partOfAct Part II: The Sacrifice
performanceContext concert performance of The Rite of Spring
staged ballet performance of The Rite of Spring
positionInWork final section
precedesInWork none
premieredAsPartOf The Rite of Spring premiere in Paris
premiereDate 29 May 1913
premierePlace Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris NERFINISHED
sectionOfScore The Sacrifice NERFINISHED
style modernist
primitivist
tempoCharacter very fast and driving
tonalLanguage highly dissonant
workTitle Sacrificial Dance NERFINISHED

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Rite of Spring notableSection Sacrificial Dance