The Rite of Spring decade later. Although designed as a work for the stage, with specific passages accompanying characters and action, the music achieved equal if not greater recognition as a concert piece and is widely considered to be one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century. Stravinsky was a young, virtually unknown composer when Diaghilev recruited him to create works for the Ballets Russes. "The Rite" was the third such project, after the acclaimed "Firebird" (1910) and "Petrushka" (1911). The concept behind "The Rite of Spring", developed by Roerich from Stravinsky's outline idea, is suggested by its subtitle, "Pictures of
The Rite of Spring the public would receive the work, and suggested that they might react badly if they thought they were being mocked. On the evening of 29 May, Gustav Linor reported, "Never ... has the hall been so full, or so resplendent; the stairways and the corridors were crowded with spectators eager to see and to hear". The evening began with "Les Sylphides", in which Nijinsky and Karsavina danced the main roles. "The Rite" followed. Some eyewitnesses and commentators said that the disturbances in the audience began during the Introduction, and grew in a crescendo when the curtain rose on the stamping