René Martin talks about the origins of “Le Sacre Russe,” the title of this year’s La Folle journée which takes the music of Russia as its theme:
This title was inspired by The Rite of Spring, the ballet piece by Stravinsky which revolutionized all the subsequent music of the 20th century. However, Stravinsky was not alone. There was a succession of composers such as Scriabin, Prokofiev, Shostakovich etc who came after him but who continued to push back the boundaries of music in the 20th century.
This is why I find the word "sacre" very strong because it immediately defines this important movement as a sacred movement and it seems to me that the spiritual dimension of this music and of each of its composers is always present.