Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky; }} (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, conductor and pianist, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century and a pivotal figure in modernist music due to his unique approach to rhythm, orchestration, and tonality.

Stravinsky met Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1902 and studied under him until 1908. At the premiere of his ''Scherzo fantastique'' and ''Feu d'artifice'' in February 1909 was Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who had just formed the Ballets Russes ballet company. Diaghilev commissioned Stravinsky to write three ballets throughout the 1910s: ''The Firebird'' (1910), ''Petrushka'' (1911), and ''The Rite of Spring'' (1913), the last of which brought him international fame after the near-riot at the premiere.

Stravinsky's compositions were diverse. ''The Rite of Spring'' changed how composers understood rhythmic structure. His "Russian period", which continued with works such as ''Renard'', ''L'Histoire du soldat,'' and ''Les noces'', was followed in the 1920s by a period in which he turned to neoclassicism. His work from the Russian period made use of classical musical styles (concerto grosso, fugue, and symphony) and drew from earlier styles, especially those of the 18th century. In the 1950s, Stravinsky adopted serial procedures. His compositions of this period shared traits with examples of his earlier output: rhythmic energy, the construction of extended melodic ideas out of a few two- or three-note cells, and clarity of form and instrumentation. Provided by Wikipedia