Stravinsky's score for the ballet "Petrushka, " commissioned by Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes, was first performed in Paris in 1911 and was an immediate sensation with the public and the critics. It followed by a year the great success of his score for "The Firebird, " also produced by the Ballets Russes, and it confirmed Stravinsky's reputation as the most gifted of the younger generation of Russian composers. The ballet had begun in Stravinsky's mind as a "picture of a puppet suddenly endowed with life, exasperating the patience of the orchestra with diabolical cascades of arpeggios." Soon Diaghilev had convinced the young composer to turn the work into a ballet score. Benois was chosen to be his collaborator in the libretto, Fokine and Nijinsky became involved, and the bizarre tale of three dancing puppets Petrushka (a folk character in Russian lore), the Ballerina, and the Moor, brought to life in a tragic tale of love would soon become one of the most acclaimed and performed of ballet masterpieces. Brilliantly orchestrated, filled with Russian folksong as well as new and striking harmonies, alternately poignant and splendidly imposing, the score of "Petrushka" continues to be a popular subject for the study of tonal language and orchestration. This edition is an unabridged republication of the original edition published in 1912 by Edition Russe de Musique in Berlin. Printed on fine paper, sturdily bound, yet remarkably inexpensive, it offers musical scholars, musical performers, and music lovers a lifetime of pleasurable study and enjoyment of one of the most popular and acclaimed musical works of the twentieth century."

In terms of his influence and the frequency with which his works are performed, Stravinsky stands preeminent among twentieth-century composers. His oeuvre encompasses nearly every significant trend of his lifetime, and regardless of genre, the Russian composer frequently returned to the musical idiom of his native land. In Petrushka, he drew upon his roots to dazzle Parisian audiences of the Ballets Russes with a score that Debussy praised as "sonorous magic." Containing all of the music from the original 1911 version, this edition presents Stravinsky's popular ballet in a reduction for solo piano. Suitable for rehearsal or performance, this version is ideal for listeners wishing to examine the inner workings of one of the twentieth century's greatest masterpieces. Translated stage directions provide helpful guidance and narrate the exotic story of three magical puppets.

Fascinating critical and biographical portrait of famed 20th-century composer includes commentary on the evolution of such masterworks as The Firebird, Petrouchka, Le Sacre du Printemps, Pulcinella, and Histoire du Soldat.

An exhaustive list of the works of 132 major composers. Gives the essential information about each work, including proper title; English title; variant titles or nicknames; dates of compostion and revision; names of any librettists, playwrights, poets, screenwiters, or directors associated with the work; intended instrumental or vocal ensemble; opus and catalog numbers.