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o get an idea of the astonishing longevity of Stravinsky’s career, it’s worth setting it within the context of global events. When the Russian composer hit the Parisian headlines with the premiere in June 1910, Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen were both setting off from Europe in their bids to become the first explorers to reach the South Pole; at the other end of the timeline, his final appearance as a conductor, in May 1967, fell in the same month that The Beatles released their album. Times change, and Stravinsky most certainly changed with them. As Erik Levi explores on p26, his ballets could always be relied upon to produce the unexpected, whether pushing into new rhythmic territory or doffing a cap to the greats of the past. But perhaps the most potent mark of his genius is the fact that, well over a century after its premiere, still sounds so strikingly new.