In 1911 Igor Stravinsky began writing the ballet that would lead to the most notorious premier in the history of music. The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du printemps) makes its debut at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris May 29, 1913, conducted by Pierre Monteux. The third of Stravinsky's Diaghilev commissioned ballets is met with great anticipation due to the success of the first two (Firebird-1910 and Petrushka-1911); however, as soon as the bassoon enters with its opening theme well above the typical range heard from bassoon, shouts and boos are heard from the audience. Rumor has it that Camille Saint-Saens himself stormed out due to the maltreatment of the bassoon. The dissonant chromaticism that accompanies the bassoon causes even more agitation in the crowd. By the time the banging octatonic chords are heard the crowd is in an uproar, the noise so great that the dancers can no longer hear the orchestra, quickly losing count and becoming disoriented. The choreographer, Nijinsky yells counts to his dancers with Stravinsky holding onto his coat tails to keep him off stage but this does little to help and a full scale riot is soon at hand. The Paris police arrive by intermission but can do little to calm the crowd and chaos continues to reign over the remaining performance.

Despite the disastrous premier Diaghilev reports that it was "just what I wanted." The ballet finished its run of seven performances with no further disruption but was followed by great controversy; however, as Diaghilev and any other great marketer in the entertainment industry would be sure to tell you, there is no better way to increase ticket sales. Stravinsky's work of genius is soon accepted as a modern masterpiece and is arguably the most significant piece of music written in the twentieth century. If it was not yet clear that the romantic period was coming to an end, giving way to a new era, the Rite of Spring confirmed it.