Petrushka

Dance, music and design is unified in the ballet of Petrushka. Petrushka was written for the 1911 Paris
season of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes company.Petrushka is a puppet. He is a character known across
Europe under different names: Punch in England, Polichinelle in France, Pulcinella in Italy, Kasperle in
Germany, and Petrushka in Russia. Stravinsky also produced orchestral concert work for the ballet, which
tells a story of the jealousies and loves of three puppets. The play is one of the most successful and
popular out of the Ballet Russes productions.The story is centred on Petrushka who develops an
unrequited love for the Ballerina as she prefers the Moor. The Moor and Petrushka fight with anger
resulting in Petrushka’s death. As night falls Petrushka’s ghost rises above the puppet theatre. The
Theatre du Chatelet premiered the ballet on the 13th June 1911. In contemporary play today, the ballet
is usually performed using original designs and choreography.

The Rite of Spring

‘The Rite of Spring’ is a ballet and orchestral work written for the 1913 season of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet
Russes company. Stravinsky was still quite an unknown composer in his early years whilst working for
Diaghilev. Ballet dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky conducted the original choreography. Stage
designs and costumes were made by Russian painter Nicholas Roerich. The Rite of Spring was classed as
a sensational performance due to it’s avant-garde nature. It was the third project after Petrushka (1911)
and Firebird (1910). The narrative of this play is focused on imagery of pagan Russia.(Paganism in
Russia. In Russia, many adherents of pre-Christian Slavic spirituality reject
the word Paganism. Therefore, the established term for the movement is
Rodnoverie, which means 'native faith' (rodnaya vera). At present, no
Rodnoverie organisation is registered as a religious community). The advent of
spring is celebrated through various different primitive rituals. Quite shockingly a scenario presents a girl
chosen as a sacrificial victim, dancing herself to death. A chilling dimension to the work, reinforcing its
surreal narrative. The music was shocking to audiences at the time due to its irregular rhythms and
peculiar orchestral sounds. and guys did u know, that one of the popular works of Igor Stravinsky, The
Rite of Spring(1913) was used by the Walt Disney the 1940 film ‘Fantasia’.

Stravinsky strived into the world of the unconscious with this performance.

Igor Stravinsky’s Legacy

Igor Stravinsky has had immense influence on successive composers who have picked up on similar
pulses, rhythms and forms. Stravinsky’s style of music has considerable amounts of dissonant harmonies
and brilliant original orchestration. His creativity saw him experiment with a variety of styles which in
turn captured innovative depth to his works.
American composer Aaron Copland was greatly influenced by Stravinsky’s fluid, spontaneous rhythms
and musical style that pushed beyond the boundaries of bar lines.

Stravinsky has influenced many Hollywood composers and Hollywood film productions, But sadly Igor
Stravinsky died of Congestive heart failure on April 6, 1971 at JW Marriott Essex House. The composer
whose “Le Sacre du Printemps” exploded in the face of the music world in 1913 and blew it into the 20th
century.