Q. Do you have a book or other information about the first performance of the ballet and symphony, "Le Sacre du Printemps"?

We have a number of resources about Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) available at the library; I've attached a link to our catalog, where it should display a list of books and documentaries. None seem to focus solely on the "Le Sacre du Printemps," though it looks like the composition is mentioned in some of his biographies.

You can find more information using our databases-- specifically, Credo Reference. From there I was able to find the following:

"Ballet ('Scenes of Pagan Russia') by Stravinsky (choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky, book by the composer and Nicholas Roerich, décor and costumes by Roerich), produced in Paris in 1913 by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets russes. It is in two parts, titled L'adoration de la terre (The Adoration of the Earth) and Le sacrifice (The Sacrifice), each divided into several scenes."
[Sacre du printemps, Le [Fr., The Rite of Spring; Russ. Vesna svyashchennaya, Sacred Spring]. (2003). In The Harvard Dictionary of Music. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/harvdictmusic/sacre_du_printemps_le_fr_the_rite_of_spring_russ_vesna_svyashchennaya_sacred_spring]

"Ballet by Stravinsky, ‘scenes of pagan Russia’, to a scenario worked out with Nikolay Rerikh, choreographed originally by Nijinsky. Scored for large orchestra, the music is in two parts, each moving from a slow and hesitant introduction to a loudly pulsing finale: Dance of the Earth in the first part, Sacrificial Dance in the second. The first performance was vociferously challenged from the audience; the work's status as one of the great avatars of modernism was at once affirmed. First performance: Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, 29 May 1913.
[Rite of Spring, The. (2006). In The New Penguin Dictionary of Music. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/penguinmusic/rite_of_spring_the]

"A ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) and choreography by Vaslav Nijinksy (1890-1950). It was first performed by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris. It is often referred to by its French title, Le Sacre du printemps. The subtitle of the work is ‘ pictures from pagan Russia’, and its two parts are titled ‘ The Adoration of the Earth’ and ‘ The Sacrifice’. The hitherto unknown ferocity of the music's grinding discords and rhythms caused a riot at the first performance. One contemporary critic commented that it was ‘ rather a Massacre du printemps’; Diaghilev himself called it ‘ the 20th century's Ninth Symphony’."
[Rite of Spring, The. (2002). In Brewer's Curious Titles. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/orioncurious/rite_of_spring_the]

For more information, please give us a call at (225) 231-3750.