On May 29, 1913, a ballet about a girl dancing herself to death set off shouting, fistfights, and — supposedly — a police-worthy riot in a brand-new Paris theater. A century later we're still arguing over what actually happened, and whether the 'riot' is the greatest myth in music history.
The four-minute animated on-ramp: what Stravinsky's pounding, dissonant score and Nijinsky's jerking choreography did to a genteel 1913 audience.
The full backstory: Stravinsky's pagan-Russia vision, the Ballets Russes, Roerich's costumes, and how a scandal became a cornerstone of modern music.
A conservatory's careful account of the night — the boos, the counter-boos, and the factions who arrived spoiling for a fight before a note was played.
Hear the thing that started it all. The 'Augurs of Spring' chords still hit like a fist — now imagine them brand new in 1913.
Classic FM separates the eyewitness accounts from the legend — how much was the music, how much the dancing, and how much old-fashioned Paris politics.
Did the composer engineer the scandal for publicity? A skeptical deep-dive into whether the most famous riot in music was partly a marketing stunt.
An illustrated introduction with archival context, tracing how the piece went from Parisian disaster to the most influential score of the 20th century.
Michael Tilson Thomas breaks down the music itself — the rhythms and harmonies that rewired what an orchestra was allowed to do.