Best Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky’s *The Rite of Spring* is a groundbreaking orchestral composition from 1913. Its jarring rhythms and dissonant harmonies shocked audiences at its premiere, marking a pivotal moment in modernist music. The work depicts pagan rituals through intense soundscapes and remains notable for...

*The Rite of Spring* is a ballet composed by Igor Stravinsky and choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky. First performed in 1913, it remains significant for its revolutionary approach to music and dance. The work depicts ancient pagan rituals through stark dissonant harmonies and intensely expressive move...

Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms is a landmark choral work completed in his later years. Noted for its unique blend of modern harmonic language and deeply rooted biblical themes, it explores sacred texts through a powerfully evocative musical landscape. The symphony is primarily intended for pro...

Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka is a groundbreaking orchestral composition notable for its innovative use of shifting musical styles reflecting scenes from a Russian puppet show. The work blends elements of Russian folk music with modernist techniques creating a unique and influential piece. Primarily i...

Martha Graham’s choreography for Stravinsky’s *The Rite of Spring* is a landmark work in modern ballet. The piece, originally staged in 1923, presents a dramatic exploration of pagan sacrifice through intensely expressive movement and dissonant music. It remains notable for its revolutionary approac...

Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms is a three-movement work for mixed chorus and orchestra, composed in 1930 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's fiftieth anniversary. It sets Latin passages from Psalms 38, 39, and 150 in the Vulgate numbering. Its unusual orchestra omits violins, violas, and clari...

Igor Stravinsky’s *The Firebird* is a significant orchestral work blending Russian folklore with modernist musical techniques. Composed in 1910, it's notable for its vibrant orchestration and innovative rhythmic complexity reflecting the early 20th-century avant-garde. Originally conceived as ballet...

Igor Stravinsky’s *The Firebird* is a 1910 orchestral composition notable for its innovative modernist style and use of Russian folk melodies. The ballet score, initially conceived for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, features complex rhythms and colorful orchestration that established Stravinsky as a le...

Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms is a significant choral work composed in 1930. It features arrangements of Latin biblical psalms, notably omitting violins to highlight his neoclassical style. The symphony's unique approach to sacred music and Stravinsky’s distinctive modernist sound make it rel...

Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka, composed in 1911, is a landmark orchestral work that revolutionized ballet music. The score features innovative rhythmic complexity and explores themes of illusion, memory, and folklore through vibrant characters inspired by Russian popular culture. It remains significan...

Agon, created by William Forsythe in 1990, is a significant neoclassical ballet that examines the dynamics of rivalry and physical interaction. The work’s innovative use of rotating sets and fragmented movement sequences, alongside music by Igor Stravinsky, distinguishes it within the 20th-century b...

Mark Morris’s *Apollo* is a significant neoclassical ballet created in the 20th century. The work explores Greek mythology through a dramatic narrative centered on the god Apollo’s travels. A chorus of muses adds to the complexity and scale of the piece. It's primarily intended for experienced balle...

Sergei Prokofiev's *The Firebird* is a ballet commissioned for the Bolshoi Theatre in 1910. It tells the story of Prince Ivan’s pursuit of the magical Firebird, a creature possessing immense power. Choreographed by Michel Fokine and featuring music by Igor Stravinsky, the work explores themes of goo...

Pulcinella is a one-act ballet by Igor Stravinsky, premiered in Paris in 1920 by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, with choreography by Léonide Massine and designs by Pablo Picasso. Based on commedia dell'arte characters and scenarios, its score reworks music then attributed largely to Giovanni Bat...

Petrushka is a one-act ballet exploring themes of love and loss through a compelling narrative. Stravinsky’s distinctive score, originally composed in 1911, alongside Michel Degrand's choreography, creates a vibrant depiction of a puppet’s desire for a human girl during a lively Moscow celebration....

Oedipus Rex is an opera-oratorio by Igor Stravinsky, first performed in 1927. Jean Cocteau prepared the libretto from Sophocles' tragedy, with the sung text translated into Latin and a narrator addressing the audience in the local language. Scored for male chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra, the...

George Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements is a neoclassical ballet built upon Maurice Ravel’s *La Mer*. The work translates the composer’s evocative musical score into a purely abstract dance experience through rapid shifts in tempo and texture mirroring the sea's changing moods. It is notable...

*Les Noces*, choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska for Igor Stravinsky’s 1923 ballet, presents a strikingly abstract depiction of a pagan wedding. The work utilizes dissonant musical textures and sharp, repetitive movements to evoke primal energy and conflict. It is notable for its rejection of tradi...

Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, composed in 1924, represents a pivotal moment in his career. This neoclassical work features a solo piano alongside wind instruments including clarinet, bassoon, and horn, notably omitting strings. The absence of string accompaniment creates...

The Violin Concerto is a ballet score by Igor Stravinsky composed for Benjamin Britten’s 1967 production. It tells the story of John the Baptist through dramatic movement and music, featuring a central role for the solo violin to represent spiritual and emotional states. The work is notable for its...

Igor Stravinsky's Mass is a setting of the Latin Mass Ordinary composed between 1944 and 1948 for mixed chorus and a double wind quintet of oboes, English horn, bassoons, trumpets, and trombones. Written for liturgical use, it comprises the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Its restraine...

Ernest Ansermet was a Swiss conductor and mathematician who lived from 1883 to 1969. He founded the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva in 1918 and remained closely associated with it for five decades, building a substantial recorded legacy in French, Russian, and modern orchestral music. Anser...

Stravinsky's F-sharp-major Étude, Op. 7 No. 4, is a Vivo piano study concluding his four early études, composed at Ustilug in the summer of 1908.

George Balanchine's Movements for Piano and Orchestra, created in 1937, is a seminal neoclassical ballet. It showcases a dynamic relationship between a solo piano part by Stravinsky and the dancers’ movements on a stark stage. The work’s intricate rhythms and abstract design make it notable within t...

Balanchine’s *Orpheus* is a neoclassical ballet based on the Greek myth. The work features a primarily male company exploring themes of love and loss through precise, angular choreography set to Stravinsky's score. It is notable for its dramatic interpretation of the Orpheus and Eurydice narrative a...

*Pulcinella* is a ballet score by Igor Stravinsky created in 1919. It utilizes themes from Mozart’s *The Marriage of Figaro*, presented through the lens of Commedia dell'Arte and featuring choreography by Léonide Massine. The work explores the concept of artistic borrowing and remains notable for it...

Pulcinella is a neoclassical ballet by Igor Stravinsky, premiered in 1920 by the Ballets Russes under Sergei Diaghilev. Stravinsky based the score on commedia dell'arte and reimagined Baroque music that was originally attributed to Giovanni Pergolesi. The piece signaled a major stylistic shift for S...

Stravinsky's E-minor Étude, Op. 7 No. 3, is an Andantino for solo piano from four rhythmically intricate studies composed at Ustilug in 1908.

George Balanchine’s *The Cage* is a stark, minimalist ballet set to Penderecki's unsettling string compositions, depicting a group of women trapped in an oppressive environment through precise, repetitive movements and a deliberately unsettling atmosphere.