Stravinsky's Rite of Spring Centenary Editions

Facsimile of the version for piano four-hands, Edited by Felix Meyer with an introduction in German and English.
In May 1913, a few days before the premiere, Édition Russe de Musique published the composer’s version of The Rite of Spring for piano four-hands. This piano reduction was primarily intended for study and rehearsal purposes, but in recent decades it has also found a home on the concert platform.

The manuscript, partly in Stravinsky’s and partly in a copyist’s hand, was fully authorised by the composer. Long considered lost, it is now made available to the public for the first time. Not only does it allow a critical examination of the resulting printed edition, its detailed corrections also shed valuable light on Stravinsky’s efforts to have his piece represented as accurately and idiomatically as possible on the piano.

Edited by Hermann Danuser and Heidy Zimmermann. 18 Essays in English.

This richly illustrated collection of 18 essays provides an overview of current research on The Rite of Spring,
opening new perspectives on the work and its impact.

Turning to previously unknown sources, the essays cover the circumstances of The Rite’s emergence, its contexts and revolutionary potential, as well as its cultural background, poised between archaism and modernity. The myths surrounding the work are critically examined, and the first century of its international reception is viewed from a wide range of vantage points, from choreographic and musical realisations to the responses of composers and analysts.

With contributions by Jan Assmann, Jonathan Bernard, Tobias Bleek, John E. Bowlt, Esteban Buch, Jonathan Cross, Lynn Garafola, Paul Griffiths, Edmund Griffiths, Claudia Jeschke, Stefanie Jordan, Andreas Meyer, Herfried Münkler, Robert Piencikowski, Swetlana Savenko, Arne Stollberg, Richard Taruskin and Stephen Walsh.