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The Firebird

The Firebird (French: L'Oiseau de feu; Russian: Жар-птица, romanized: Zhar-ptitsa) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who collaborated with Alexandre Benois and others on a scenario based on the Russian fairy tales of the Firebird and the blessing and curse it possesses for its owner. It was first performed at the Opéra de Paris on 25 June 1910 and was an immediate success, catapulting Stravinsky to international fame and leading to future Diaghilev–Stravinsky collaborations including Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913).

This article is about the ballet to Stravinsky's 1910 music. For other uses of the word, see Firebird.

L'Oiseau de feu
The Firebird

French: L'Oiseau de feu
Russian: Жар-птица, romanized: Zhar-ptitsa

Michel Fokine

Igor Stravinsky

Russian folk tales

25 June 1910
Palais Garnier

Ballets Russes

Aleksandr Golovin (sets)
Léon Bakst (costumes)

The Firebird's mortal and supernatural elements are distinguished with a system of leitmotifs placed in the harmony dubbed "leit-harmony". Stravinsky intentionally used many specialist techniques in the orchestra, including ponticello, col legno, flautando, glissando, and flutter-tonguing. Set in the evil immortal Koschei's castle, the ballet follows Prince Ivan, who battles Koschei with the help of the magical Firebird.


Stravinsky later created three concert suites based on the work: in 1911, ending with the "Infernal Dance"; in 1919, which remains the most popular today; and in 1945, featuring significant reorchestration and structural changes. Other choreographers have staged the work with Fokine's original choreography or created entirely new productions using the music, some with new settings or themes. Many recordings of the suites have been made; the first was released in 1928, using the 1911 suite. A film version of the popular Sadler's Wells Ballet production, which revived Fokine's original choreography, was produced in 1959.

Recordings[edit]

Stravinsky received several commissions to transcribe his works for player pianos, some from the London Aeolian Company and some from the Paris Pleyel Company.[127] In 1928, the Aeolian Company published an "Audiographic" piano roll of The Firebird, containing both the piano reduction and comments on the work by Stravinsky. The composer identified many of the leit-harmonies in the opening comments of the roll, providing an invaluable resource for information on the ballet.[128]


The first orchestral recording of The Firebird was released by Columbia Records in 1928 with Stravinsky conducting L'Orchestre des Concerts Straram.[129][130] The 78 RPM record consisted of the 1911 suite with the Lullaby and Finale from the 1919 suite, as well as a recording of The Rite of Spring.[130] In 1933, Stravinsky and the violinist Samuel Dushkin recorded a reduction of the "Scherzo" and "Lullaby" for His Master's Voice. Stravinsky recorded the 1945 suite with the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York in 1946, and the complete ballet with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra in 1961.[129] A film version of the Sadler's Wells Ballet revival was made in 1959, with Margot Fonteyn in the lead role.[84]

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: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

The Firebird

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