Igor Stravinsky

The twentieth century was an extremely influential era overflowed with several prominent and inspirational figures. An effective figure who significantly impacted and revolutionized music during his time was Igor Stravinsky. The talented and popular Russian composer was mostly known for his masterpiece pieces in ballet music; however, Igor Stravinsky was also a talented pianist and conductor. Instead of being consistent with one compositional style, he reflected and embraced several compositional styles over the course of his music career. He is remembered for successfully giving the world new and unique rhythmic patterns.

Igor Stravinsky was born on June 17, 1882 in small town Oranienbaum, Russia. Stravinsky’s early musical experience was

By experimenting with new and unusual rhythms came his first ballet, The Firebird, in 1910 which was based on the Russian folk legend of the Firebird. The ballad initiated Stravinsky’s use of folk tunes in his music, and caused him to rise in fame almost overnight. Stravinsky’s extreme success with the ballet brought Petrushka in 1911 and The Rite of Spring in 1913, which he composed for Diaghilev. The three ballets represented his individual, unique style, and he completely revolutionized ballet music by bringing to the table certain techniques that had never been exposed or used before by other

Since people were familiarized with the more classical form of ballet, Stravinsky’s piece greatly surprised people. His music piece differed because the composition changed to a more intense rhythms. The piece even caused a riot at Stravinsky’s premiere in 1913 which some say is due to the major level of dissonance the music carried. The story behind the music piece was of a sacrifice, so the tunes had a savagery tone and brutal, crashing rhythms. The choreography was unique and unpredictable and also included scandalous costumes. The outrage provoked most people into irritability and caused discomfort in the theater. Later on, police arrived at the scene to calm the angry crowd from the arguments that were taking place between the listeners at the theater. Almost no other music piece has had such a controversial effect or has influenced people into a riot.

Unfortunately, Igor Stravinsky died on April 6th, 1971 in New York City from heart failure. However, Stravinsky left a large mark on the twentieth century because he significantly redefined music. Ballet music took a different turn and was revolutionized. Many composers and artists were vastly influenced, and his impact can still be seen