The Firebird (1919 revision) 
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) 

THE STORY

     Early 20th-century Paris was obsessed with all things Russian—and for the 1910 Ballet Russes season in Paris, the impresario Sergei Diaghilev planned to give his audience a quintessentially Russian ballet. As with Ravel’s Mother Goose, inspiration came from fairy tales.
     The scenario was concocted from a mixture of several traditional Russian stories, pulling in well-known characters: An evil magician has been keeping 13 princesses captive, but with the help of the majestic Firebird, Prince Ivan kills the magician and breaks the spell.
     27-year-old Stravinsky was offered the commission for the music only after other prominent Russian composers had declined. In addition to his relative inexperience, he was also up against the challenge of working with a choreographer who had very strong opinions about the music—and who insisted that the score be composed to fit the dancing, rather than vice versa.
     Although the role of the Firebird had to be recast at the last minute (the principal ballerina proclaimed that she detested the music and would not dance), the premiere was a great success in Paris and was Stravinsky’s big break to international fame. Debussy, however, reportedly commented dismissively, “What do you expect? One has to start somewhere.”
     The dazzling and evocative score for The Firebird was, indeed, a start—it was the start of a partnership with Diaghilev that would produce five more ballets, including The Rite of Spring just three years later.

LISTEN FOR

• In “Introduction and Dance of the Firebird,” the solo horn representing Prince Ivan as he chases the Firebird; the horn continues to portray the Prince throughout the work

• In “Dance of the Princesses,” a trumpet that interrupts a kiss between Prince Ivan and the most beautiful princess (with whom he has fallen in love), signaling that the princesses must return to the castle where they are kept captive

• Syncopated, wild rhythms and sudden, jarring chords in “Infernal Dance of King Kastchei,” as the magician and his minions dance themselves to exhaustion under the Firebird’s spell

• The hauntingly beautiful bassoon melody in “Berceuse”

• The glorious triumph of the finale, and the final chromatic chords that outline the Firebird’s theme

INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes (one doubles English horn), two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano, celesta, strings