Stravinsky for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first

Igor Stravinsky was a Russian composer who lived from 1882 to 1971. He wrote three ballets as a young man that made him famous: The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring. His rhythms jolt and surprise. The best first piece for a child is the finale of The Firebird, where one quiet horn tune grows until the whole orchestra is playing it.

Quick facts

• Born: 1882, in Oranienbaum, near St. Petersburg, Russia
• Died: 1971, in New York City, United States
• Era: Modern
• Played: piano
• Known for: The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring

The life in short

Stravinsky grew up in St. Petersburg. His father was a leading singer at the opera house, and Igor watched operas and ballets from a young age.

His parents wanted him to be a lawyer. He studied law at university and took private music lessons on the side from the composer Rimsky-Korsakov.

In 1909, a producer named Sergei Diaghilev heard one of his pieces. Diaghilev ran a Russian ballet company in Paris, and he asked the young composer for a new ballet based on a Russian fairy tale. The Firebird opened in Paris in 1910. Stravinsky was 28, and he was famous overnight.

Two more ballets followed. Petrushka is about a puppet who comes to life at a fair. The Rite of Spring shows a ritual from ancient times.

The Rite of Spring opened in Paris in 1913. The pounding rhythms and harsh chords shocked part of the audience. People laughed, booed, and argued. The noise was so great that the dancers struggled to hear the orchestra. Within a year, the same music was cheered in the concert hall.

Stravinsky left Russia and lived in Switzerland, then France. In 1939, he moved to the United States and settled in California. He kept changing his style all his life, and he conducted his own music around the world into his eighties.

What the music sounds like

Rhythm comes first in Stravinsky’s music. The beat shifts when a listener least expects it. Loud chords land off the beat.

He used the orchestra in sharp, bright blocks of sound. A tune often belongs to one instrument alone.

Four pieces to play first

Finale, from The Firebird. The evil spell is broken. A single horn plays a calm tune over hushed strings. The tune repeats and spreads through the orchestra. It ends with huge, slow chords for the brass.

“Infernal Dance,” from The Firebird. The wicked king and his monsters are forced to dance until they drop. The piece opens with a bang. Loud chords jump out again and again when nobody expects them.

“Lullaby,” from The Firebird. The Firebird sings the monsters to sleep. A bassoon plays a slow, rocking tune.

“Russian Dance,” from Petrushka. Three puppets come to life and dance. The music is bright and busy, with a piano in the middle of the orchestra.

A fun extra: in 1942, Stravinsky wrote the Circus Polka for a ballet danced by circus elephants.

Things to do together

Tell the story. In the Firebird tale, a prince catches a magic bird and lets her go. She gives him a feather. Later, he waves it, and she comes to save him from a wicked king. Tell it, then play the three Firebird pieces in order: Infernal Dance, Lullaby, Finale.

Catch the bang. Play the Infernal Dance. Try to clap on each loud chord. It is harder than it sounds.

Grow with the tune. Play the Finale. Start curled up on the floor. Rise a little each time the tune repeats, and stand with arms wide for the last chords.

Puppet dance. Play the Russian Dance and move with stiff arms and legs, the way a puppet on strings would.

Print and play

Print the Stravinsky fact sheet. It has the story, three pieces, and room to write and draw. Find him on the composer timeline. He was born when Brahms was still writing, and he lived to see people walk on the moon.

Next, meet another Russian composer who wrote for the ballet in Prokofiev for kids. For all 24 composers by era, see classical composers for kids.