Clash of Harmonics in Stravinsky’sThe Rite of Spring

Abstract

This paper describes a fascinating connection between the physics of music and the famous chord in the dissonant rhythmic section of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (1913). The analysis of Stravinsky’s chord will draw from the physics of harmonics, musical intervals, mathematics, and cognitive psychology. This highly interdisciplinary approach will especially appeal to students typically found in a physics course for non-majors. A video accompanies this paper so that readers and students can hear the construction of Stravinsky’s dissonant chord as well as an orchestra performing an excerpt of The Rite of Spring.