Exploring the Revolutionary Score That Shocked Audiences, Transformed Ballet, and Redefined 20th-Century Music
Written by Yusif Babayev
When The Rite of Spring debuted in Paris, the audience was so shocked by the wild music and strange, stomping choreography that chaos broke out. People screamed, laughed, booed, and even fought in the theatre. Stravinsky had to flee backstage, and the dancers could barely hear the orchestra over the uproar. The scandal made headlines — and turned the ballet into an instant legend.
Many years may have passed, but this masterpiece has once again returned to the spotlight — featured on the cover of our Music section, as a tribute to its remarkable legacy. Join us as we delve into the fascinating story behind this one-of-a-kind work that left an indelible mark on music history, and explore the life of the visionary artist who brought it to life.
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky was a groundbreaking Russian composer, pianist, and conductor, widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures in 20th-century music. Before Igor Stravinsky revolutionized music with the riotous rhythms of The Rite of Spring, he was a boy growing up in imperial Russia—curious, reserved, and surrounded by the arts. He was born into a musical family, his father, Fyodor Stravinsky, was a highly respected bass opera singer with the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and his mother, Anna Kholodovskaya, came from a noble Ukrainian family and was an accomplished pianist. Stravinsky’s childhood was filled with opera, folklore, and the rich cultural atmosphere of St. Petersburg.
Igor began piano lessons around the age of nine, but he was never pushed toward a rigorous musical education. Instead, he attended the University of St. Petersburg to study law and philosophy, as his parents wished. However, law did not inspire him. His real passion lay in music, and he spent much of his free time attending concerts and studying scores.
While still a student, he befriended Vladimir Rimsky-Korsakov, the son of the famous composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Through this connection, Stravinsky was introduced to the elder Rimsky-Korsakov himself—one of the great figures of Russian music. After the death of his father in 1902, Stravinsky finally followed his true calling. He began private music lessons with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who became his mentor and guide.
Though Stravinsky came to composition later than many of his peers, his talent blossomed quickly. Under Rimsky-Korsakov’s strict but brilliant tutelage, he learned the art of orchestration and musical structure. His early works—such as his Symphony in E-flat (1907)—show the clear influence of his teacher.
A turning point came when he met the impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who was looking for fresh Russian music for his Ballets Russes in Paris. Diaghilev saw promise in Stravinsky’s style and commissioned him to write a full ballet. That work became The Firebird (1910), a major success that launched Stravinsky’s international career.
From those early days in a musically rich household to his dramatic emergence on the world stage, Stravinsky’s transformation from law student to legendary composer was anything but conventional. It was his mix of discipline, innovation, and deep roots in Russian tradition that allowed him to create music that was both shocking and enduring.
What began as a quiet love for music in his youth soon turned into a lifelong journey of redefining what music could be. His career spanned over six decades and multiple musical styles, from Russian nationalism to neoclassicism and serialism. He constantly reinvented his compositional voice and shocked the musical world more than once.
The Rite of Spring
In the early 1910s, Igor Stravinsky was not just composing music — he was inventing a new musical language. After the glowing success of The Firebird and Petrushka, he dared to go further. With The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps), he would abandon beauty and refinement in favor of something raw, primitive, and untamed.
The Rite of Spring was intensely rhythmic, full of dissonant chords, abrupt shifts, and unorthodox instrumentation. The opening bassoon solo, written in an unusually high register, immediately signaled that this music would be something different.
Stravinsky used:
- Irregular time signatures and polyrhythms
- Primal, driving percussion
- Dissonance without traditional resolution
- Layered textures that created overwhelming soundscapes
These techniques made the piece incredibly difficult for musicians and dancers alike — but also groundbreaking in scope and ambition.
Stravinsky later recalled that the idea for The Rite of Spring came to him in a dream in 1910, while he was still working on The Firebird. In his own words:
“I saw in my imagination a solemn pagan rite: sage elders, seated in a circle, watching a young girl dance herself to death.”
This haunting image — of ritual sacrifice to awaken the earth after winter — became the foundation of the ballet. The concept fascinated Sergei Diaghilev, who immediately approved it as a new project for his Ballets Russes.
Stravinsky began composing the music in 1911 and worked on it through 1912 and early 1913. During this time, he lived in Clarens, Switzerland, where he had the peace and quiet to focus intensely on the complex score. He often worked long hours, scribbling bold rhythms and harmonies that broke every rule of traditional composition.
The Rite of Spring premiered on May 29, 1913, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Choreographed by the avant-garde dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, the ballet featured stiff, stomping movements inspired by ancient tribal rituals. The costumes were earthy and primitive — a stark contrast to the graceful ballets audiences were used to.
From the very beginning, the audience reacted with confusion and hostility. Some laughed, others shouted insults. As the music grew more intense and the dancers performed their jarring choreography, the theatre erupted into chaos. People shouted, booed, and even fought in the aisles.
Stravinsky, watching from the wings, was furious and shaken. He left the theatre in the middle of the performance. Diaghilev, amused by the scandal, kept turning the house lights on and off to try to calm the crowd.
This now-famous evening became known as the “riot at the premiere of The Rite of Spring” — though the riot was more of a noisy protest than a violent revolt, it cemented the work’s reputation as one of the most shocking pieces of its time.
Though the premiere was a scandal, the music itself quickly gained recognition as a masterpiece of modern music. Within a year, The Rite of Spring was being performed as a concert piece, without dancing — and audiences responded very differently. They began to appreciate the structure, the daring rhythms, and the bold orchestration.
Stravinsky’s fame skyrocketed. He was no longer just a Russian composer making waves in Paris; he became an international symbol of modernism, influencing composers, choreographers, and filmmakers across the globe.
The Rite of Spring has since been regarded as one of the most important works in music history. It opened the door to new ways of thinking about rhythm, harmony, and form — and its influence stretches far beyond classical music.
It inspired:
- Composers like Béla Bartók, Leonard Bernstein, and John Adams
- Choreographers such as Pina Bausch and Maurice Béjart
- Film scores, including those of John Williams and Hans Zimmer
Even Walt Disney included it in his 1940 film Fantasia, pairing the music with a dramatic sequence of the Earth’s creation and the extinction of dinosaurs.
What began as a strange, pagan dream in Igor Stravinsky’s mind became a turning point in music history. The Rite of Spring was more than just a composition — it was a revolution. It showed that music could be wild, terrifying, beautiful, and primal all at once. And in doing so, it made Stravinsky not only famous, but immortal.