EDMOND — Let me ask you a question. What are you passionate about? I’ll take for granted your first thought will be “My sweetheart, of course.” But let’s cast our net a little wider. What else are you passionate about? If you don’t have a ready answer, let me throw a couple of prompts at you while you think about it.
Keep track of your emotions. There’ll be a quiz at the end.
Scene one: A group of ancient tribal elders gathers around a ceremonial fire to watch a young woman dance. This is part of an age-old ritual calculated to appease and secure the benevolence of the primordial gods. This dance is the prelude to the central act in the sacred rite of spring. The girl dancing before them is to be sacrificed. It is only by her death that the tribe can demonstrate its piety and fidelity. The scene ends badly. There is no rescue. The ancient gods’ thirst for blood is satisfied. The ritual is repeated again and again for eons. End of scene one.
Scene two: Fast forward to 1912. Igor Stravinsky, the great Russian composer, decides to create a score for a ballet based on the themes described in scene one. Collaborating with Vaslav Najinsky, the famous Russian choreographer, he creates a ballet that breaks almost completely with accepted musical and dance conventions. The score is unusually complex and features jarring instances of dissonance. The rhythms are asymmetrical and time signatures change often and unpredictably. The dance moves are violent and intentionally grotesque. The graceful lines usually associated with dancers’ movements are replaced by heavy steps; arms and legs sharply bend, the dancers’ bodies curve inward and are pulled down. When work is completed, it is a dramatically unconventional and dissonant treatment of primitive and savage themes. End of scene two.
Scene three: On May 29, 1913, (ninety-six years ago Friday), these brutal themes expressed in atonal music and grotesque dance steps premiered in Paris. The work was called “Le Sacre du Printemps” (roughly translated as “The Rite of Spring”). From the opening notes, the performance provoked extreme reaction in the audience. Those who hated it tried to shout it down. Those who loved it and those who hated the haters tried to quiet the protesters.
All semblance of tolerance and courtesy broke down and a riot erupted. The Paris police were called, but order could not be completely restored. Chaos marred the entire performance. Stravinsky was not there to see the end as he, reportedly, fled the hall in tears. The result; savage themes represented by atonal music expressed in grotesque dance steps end in an ugly riot. End of scene three.
Epilogue: In 1918, the British government drafted astrophysicist Arthur Stanley Eddington for service in World War I. Eddington, a devout Quaker, claimed “conscientious objector” status. After the war, he traveled to the remote island of Principe near Africa. On May 29, 1919, the sixth anniversary of Stravinsky’s premier, Eddington measured, during a full eclipse, the location of stars in reference to the sun. His findings confirmed the validity of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. The end.
In retrospect, Stravinsky’s score is regarded (by some) as one of the greatest compositions of the 20th century. For better or worse, he changed the boundaries of musical conventions. Likewise, Eddington’s confirmation of Einstein’s theory changed (for some) the fundamentals of the scientific view of the nature of physical reality around us.
Still thinking about your passion? OK, here’s a quiz. How did you feel about the injustice of the ancient sacrificial ritual? The sexism of it? How did you feel about the departure of rhythm and harmony from a classical music score? How did you feel about the hatefulness of the crowd’s reaction to the work? How about a man who refuses to fight due to religious or moral conviction? How do you feel about science? How disturbed are you that long-held scientific convention can be upended by new experimentation? Your answer to these questions may provide a clue to your passions.
So, what does this have to do with manliness? It can be summed up in a venerated proverb: “Our passions are the winds that propel our vessel. Our reason is the pilot that steers her. Without wind, the vessel would not move; without a pilot, she would be lost.” The manly man possesses a healthy combination of cool reason and flaming passion. Being smart, all by itself, is not enough. Agree? I’m Hink and I’ll see ya.
MIKE HINKLE is an Edmond resident and retired attorney. He may be reached via e-mail at hink@edmondsun.com.
Opinion
Finding passion amongst reason
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