The "Symphonic Dances" combine energetic rhythmic sections, reminiscent of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", with some of the composer's lushest harmonies. The rhythmic vivacity, a characteristic of Rachmaninoff's late style, may have been further heightened here for two reasons. First, he had been encouraged by the success of his "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" as a ballet in 1939 and wanted to write something with which to follow it up. Second, he may have included material intended for a ballet titled "The Scythians", begun in 1914–15 but abandoned before he left Russia. While no manuscript for the ballet is known to have survived, this does not make his quoting the work inconceivable, given Rachmaninoff's remarkable memory. He could remember and play back accurately pieces he had heard years earlier, even those he had heard only once.