Item MS-5-2, Box 2, Folder 17 - L'oiseau de feu : contre dansé en 2 tableaux : [piano arrangement]

Igor Stravinsky was a well-known Russian composer, pianist, and conductor, who is considered one of the most influential composers of the twentieth century. He is perhaps best known for his first three ballets, written for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911) and the Rite of Spring (1913), the latter of which provoked a famous riot after its premiere performance in Paris.

He studied with the Russian composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov until the latter's death in 1908. In 1910, Stravinsky moved to France with his wife, Catherine Nossenko and their children. Following the First World War, many of Stravinsky's works can be described as Neoclassical, referencing historical genres of music. In 1940, he moved to the Hollywood, California with his second wife, Vera de Bosset. His works following World War Two are more serialist in nature, following the styles of Viennese composers like Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton von Webern. He died in New York City on April 6, 1971.

The P. Jurgenson publishing firm was established in 1861 in Russia by Pyotr Ivanovich Jurgenson, with assistance from Nikolay Rubinstein (brother of the pianist, Anton Rubinstein). In 1867, the company added a printing plant, and, starting in 1870, began to purchase several smaller Russian publishing companies. By the time of his death 1904, P. Jurgenson was the largest publishing house in Russia. His sons, Bors and Grigory Jurgenson took over the company following his death, until is expropriation by the Communist regime in 1918. In 2004, the company reverted to the P. Jurgenson name.