Question 1

True or false: Stravinsky’s 'The Rite of Spring' caused a riot at its premiere in 1913.

Accepted Answer

True. The dissonant music and choreography sparked a near-riot in the Paris audience, though it's now considered a masterpiece.

Question 2

True or false: Stravinsky became a French citizen before moving to the United States.

Accepted Answer

True. He naturalized as a French citizen in 1934, living there for years before relocating to the US in 1939.

Question 3

True or false: Stravinsky was a lifelong atheist.

Accepted Answer

False. He was deeply religious, converting to Russian Orthodoxy and later attending Catholic mass regularly.

Question 4

True or false: Stravinsky was a close friend of composer Claude Debussy.

Accepted Answer

False. They respected each other but were not close; Debussy even criticized Stravinsky’s later works as overly mechanical.

Question 5

True or false: Stravinsky wrote 'The Firebird' as a commission for the Russian Imperial Ballet.

Accepted Answer

False. It was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes in Paris, not the Imperial Ballet in Russia.

Question 6

True or false: Stravinsky once wrote a piece for a circus elephant ballet.

Accepted Answer

True. He composed 'Circus Polka' for the Ringling Bros. circus, featuring 50 elephants and 50 ballerinas in 1942.

Question 7

True or false: Stravinsky never learned to drive a car.

Accepted Answer

True. He famously refused to drive, relying on taxis or friends, despite living in car-centric Los Angeles.

Question 8

True or false: Stravinsky’s 'Symphony of Psalms' was originally written for orchestra only.

Accepted Answer

False. It was scored for chorus and orchestra, with a text from the Latin Vulgate, and premiered in 1930.

Igor Stravinsky Trivia Questions