     This ballet is unique both to the traditional repertoire and Stravinsky's other works.  It is the story of primitive Russian peasants celebrating the coming of spring through the sacrifice of a virgin who dances herself to death as the elders watch.  The tribal setting depicts the cruelty and brutality associated with a primitive culture.  

     The music begins with a solo bassoon playing in its extreme high register.  Solo French horn and solo clarinets create an innocent and transparent texture beckoning the beginning of spring.  The soloistic sounds of woodwinds and brass provide sparkling orchestral colors as they weave around each other.  
The element which shocked and offended first time listeners was the violent use of accents.  These accents appear in irregular patterns, often over percussive repetitions of chords.   As the dissonant chords repeat, the accents move on and off the beat providing angular rhythms for the twisted motions of the dancers.  

     Stravinskys style is typified in this work by his block approach to structure. He built blocks of sound by using a series of repeated chords, superimposed with accents, to form long ostinatos (repeated rhythmic ideas).  These ostinatos create the image of primitive drumming from some forgotten rite.  

     This ballet is structured into two large sections each of which is made up of several scenes.  Part I is entitled "The Adoration of the Earth ," and Part II "The Sacrifice."  Listen to the colorful Introduction and the first section titled "Dance of the Adolescents."  In this excerpt are moments of irregular metric patterns, ostinatos, repetitive chords, and sharp dissonances.  Notice the aggressive, percussive orchestral writing; it is a sharp contrast to the impressionistic orchestrations of Debussy.  The orchestra is enormous with expanded woodwind, brass, and percussion sections.