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This is my favorite piece. Written in 1909 for a ballet, this was one of the first great pieces.

This association with animation is absolutely wonderful. I also love the abridged version that gives the best out of the suite.

I enjoy watching and listening to this times and times over.

The face of the girl, impersonating the water is absolutely magnificent. The whole natures follows the music to the perfection. This is the ultimate fusion. A true masterpiece.

The chapter in the animated film Fantasia 2000 based on Stravinsky’s piece uses an abridged version of the 1919 suite to tell the story of a spring sprite and her companion elk. After a long winter the sprite attempts to restore life to a forest but accidentally wakes the “Firebird” spirit of a nearby volcano. Angered, the Firebird proceeds to destroy the forest and seemingly the sprite. She is restored to life after the destruction and the forest life is reborn with her. The Fantasia 2000 Firebird chapter is considered an exercise in the theme of life-death-rebirth deities; the depiction of the Firebird in it as a violent, flaming volcanic spirit is not related to Stravinsky’s original theme.