The Firebird

The ballet tells of Prince Ivan, who captures the magical Firebird, uses one of her feathers to summon her help, and with her aid defeats the monster Kashchei to free a captive princess and her companions.

The introduction creeps in low strings, murky and hushed, setting the enchanted garden at night. The Firebird's entrance brings sudden flurries of woodwinds and shimmering strings, music that seems to flutter and dart. When Ivan catches her, listen for the sudden hush as she pleads for her freedom, answered by a plaintive, folk-like melody.

A gentler episode follows as the princesses appear, marked by a simple round-dance tune passed between instruments, a moment of calm before the danger returns. Kashchei's realm erupts in the famous "Infernal Dance," a violent, off-kilter stomp full of sudden accents and brass outbursts, the score's most physical moment.

After the chaos subsides, a solo bassoon sings the tender "Berceuse," a lullaby that lulls Kashchei's court to sleep. The finale grows from a single horn melody into a broad, radiant peroration for full orchestra, ending the work in triumphant, bell-laden splendor. Many performances use one of Stravinsky's later concert suites rather than the full ballet score, trimming the story-telling passages but keeping these landmark moments intact.

Sergei Diaghilev commissioned The Firebird for his Ballets Russes in Paris after an earlier composer dropped out, giving the 28-year-old Stravinsky his first major break. Drawing on Russian folk tales about a magical glowing bird, Stravinsky worked closely with choreographer Michel Fokine, shaping the music scene by scene to match the stage action. The ballet premiered at the Paris Opera in 1910 and was an immediate sensation, praised for its orchestral imagination and exotic color. Its success made Stravinsky famous overnight and led directly to his commissions for Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. Because the full ballet runs nearly 50 minutes and requires a huge orchestra, Stravinsky later extracted three concert suites, from 1911, 1919, and 1945, which remain the versions most often heard today.