The Daily Book of Classical Music

DAY 194

CELEBRATED WORKS

The Rite of Spring

BY IGOR STRAVINSKY, 1911–1913

The 1913 Paris premiere of The Rite of Spring was a riot. No, really. Shortly after it began, audience members began shouting, and before long fists were flying. By the intermission, the police had arrived to restore order. What exactly sparked the outrage is a matter of debate—the ballet’s pagan themes and bizarre choreography may have been the major culprit—but the music’s jarring dissonance and erratic, primitive rhythms undoubtedly contributed to the chaos. Years later, a Bostonian newspaper reviewer poetically expressed a popular opinion of the music:

Who wrote ...