The Rite of Spring is Stravinsky’s most revolutionary work. This comprehensive guide tells in vivid detail the story of its inception and composition, of the stormy rehearsals that led to the scandalous premiere in 1913, and of Stravinsky’s later betrayal of the ballet’s first choreographer, Nijinsky. Peter Hill probes beneath the surface of the music to reveal an architectural conception of unsuspected guile and subtlety. He provides a detailed discussion of the work in performance and a hard-hitting conclusion, which poses a radical challenge to the orthodox view of the work.