Igor Stravinsky

IGOR STRAVINSKY d1971. Russian composer, pianist and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century and a pivotal figure in modernist music. His compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes ; The Firebird (1910) / Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913). The last transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure and was largely responsible for his enduring reputation as a revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design. He died in New York aged 88 on April 6th 1971