Igor Stravinsky is one of the most famous and influential composers of the 20th century. And yet, while nearly every concertgoer will have heard his Rite of Spring, Firebird, or Petrushka, relatively few know his later works. These three big works were written by the time he was 30, and remain his most performed pieces. But the man lived another 60 years, and kept composing the whole time. He managed to write a few more masterpieces, but none of them ever compared to his early triumphs.

So, what do you do when you give up? Er, rather, what do you do once you’ve passed your moment of glory, your 15 minutes of fame?

Easy. You run off and join the circus. Or better yet, compose some music for a circus.

Yes, folks, 30 years after the great Igor Stravinsky composed some of the finest ballets ever written, he wrote another ballet – this time, to be performed by elephants. Fifty elephants, to be exact (and no, this isn’t a sick joke about overweight dancers – I’m talking about the big gray pachyderms here.) I guess after the movie Fantasia featured a troupe of (cartoon) hippopotamus ballerinas, Ringling Brothers thought they’d take the whole idea one step further and do it in real life. And Stravinsky, who was essentially forced to include his music in Fantasia, was ripe for the task, I suppose.

an attentive ear will hear Schubert’s Marche Militaire quoted in this piece …

Stravinsky’s famous springtime piece is so famous, powerful, and legendary, that it’s easy to forget that it didn’t just materialize out of nowhere. The Rite of Spring sounds the way it does because music had actually been headed in that direction for a quite while. Don’t believe me? Well, a couple years before The Rite was premiered, Claude Debussy wrote Images for Orchestra, which, though not as primitive and raw, sounds very similar. Coincidentally, both pieces have a section called “Spring Rounds.”

what goes around, comes around?

What Spring celebration would be complete without a romp through pagan ritual?

Igor Stravinsky‘s Rite of Spring is one of a few modern pieces that doesn’t require an introduction. (but if you need an short introduction – it’s a ballet piece that depicts ancient Russian equinox rituals of fertility, war, and human sacrifice.) I’d say it has already become the stuff of legend; there are many anecdotal stories about it. Its premiere ended in somewhat of a riot – but the music and the primal dancing were more of a spark that ignited the fuel laid by early 20th-century French social issues and class warfare. I’ve read both that Stravinsky was hurt that people laughed at the introductory bassoon solo, and that he himself laughed at “knock-kneed Lolitas” who were dancing.

And then there’s the dancing dinos of Disney. Copyright law wasn’t strong in 1940, and there’s a story of Walt Disney calling Stravinsky and demanding permission to use The Rite in his film, Fantasia – because Disney was going to use it regardless of Stravinsky’s answer, he had little choice but to agree. Having a film which included this score lead to lawsuits by the Philadelphia Orchestra and a music publisher, who sued Disney for a share of their massive profits.

Nowadays, The Rite continues its crazy influence. My favorite is a new cult of hosting Rite Dance Parties – bring your glow stick and your drugs.

So here it is, with a Ballet performance which attempts to recreate the legendary 1913 Paris premiere.