On the evening of May 29, 1913, Igor Stravinsky conducted the world premiere of his now famous The Rite of Spring. The resulting riot at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées — between those with more conservative tastes and aesthetes who applauded Rite’s complex rhythm and extreme dissonance — is the stuff of history, and nearly as famous as the piece itself.

What doesn’t make it to the front pages of history books — but is of interest to us — is that Stravinsky conducted the Seattle Symphony on two separate occasions. His first visit to Seattle was over four decades after the premiere of Rite. The raucous shouting matches over his music had since died down, but it would have certainly been memorable to see on the podium one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.

Courtesy Seattle Symphony Archives

Memorable, and refreshingly human. It turns out the concert wasn’t perfect, but got much better when Stravinsky conducted his own music. A Seattle Times review offered a lukewarm critique of Stravinsky’s conducting. The music of Tchaikovsky apparently “seemed to weigh heavy on his hand,” but Stravinsky “knew what he wanted in his own music and, for a greater part of the time, obtained it.” He got “down to business” with Scenes de Ballet and a suite from the ballet Petrushka, and drew a standing ovation at the end of the concert.

Stravinsky wasn’t finished, however. On April 21, 1962, along with the Seattle Symphony Music Director Milton Katims and famed American pianist Van Cliburn, Stravinsky was an integral part of the opening night of the Seattle World’s Fair. All three stars received standing ovations, as did the acoustics of Seattle’s then newly-built Opera House. The Seattle Times lauded the acoustics of the new Opera House, though in a stuffy aside, rued, “Unfortunately, the coughing was clearer, too.” Some complaints never change.

Stravinsky converses with former Seattle Symphony Music Director Milton Katims; Courtesy Seattle Symphony archives

Want to learn more about Stravinsky’s masterpiece? On Sunday, as part of a Beyond the Score^® concert, Ludovic Morlot will conduct Stravinsky’s famed The Rite of Spring in its entirety. Before the performance, an in-depth multimedia presentation explores the history and context of Rite. Learn more here.

Interested in the idea of seeing a composer conduct his own work? English composer Oliver Knussen will conduct the Seattle Symphony and Leila Josefowicz in a performance of his Violin Concerto on November 17 and 19. Click here for program notes and more.

On December 29, 1903, conductor and violinist Harry West held a small concert at Christensen Hall. There were just 24 musicians on stage that night, but within a few years, the ensemble — and the number of concerts — doubled. The Seattle Symphony Society formed in 1907, and the orchestra took up residence at the Moore Theatre. A home, a name, an excited audience — it was definitely a start, but there was a long way to go!

Courtesy of Seattle Symphony Archives

With the tenacity of those pounding chords in Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Seattle Symphony rebounded in 1926. A series of charismatic directors took its skill and reputation to new heights, but an ill-fated merge with Tacoma Philharmonic in 1947 had musicians and board members clashing within the year. Most players left to form the Seattle Orchestra, while those remaining reestablished themselves as Seattle Symphony with their own 18-concert season at Meany Hall. (Compare that to more than 200 concerts offered now!) The groups soon came to an agreement and shared the stage again, this time as Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

The orchestra really solidified when Milton Katims took the podium in 1954. After 22 years, sold-out shows, and quadrupled revenues, Katims passed the baton to Rainer Miedel, who led the orchestra on its first European tour. Leading the Symphony from 1985 to 2011, Gerard Schwarz beat out Katims for longest tenure, and Seattle Symphony became an international presence with over 140 recordings and 12 Grammy nominations.

Check out the Seattle Post-Intelligencer‘s rave review of the Symphony’s debut in the below video, created by Associate Principal Librarian Robert Olivia. As the Symphony gets ready for an exciting new season, think back on those 24 musicians and the start of what became a world-class, 91-member orchestra. We can’t wait to see what happens next.

Washington has long been a hotbed for those seeking inspiration, physical challenges, or just plain fun. But this isn’t just for grizzled, flannel-wearing mountain people; the unspoken invitation to embrace the outdoors extends to all its residents and visitors, even those who are usually seen in tuxedoes or evening dresses.

In 1907, visiting violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler, his wife, and English pianist Harold Bauer visited “the great forest of Ravenna.” A hundred-plus-year-old column from The Seattle Times, courtesy of the Seattle Symphony Archives, recounts the group’s stroll down the Fountain of Youth Path to a series of waterfalls that were later christened “Kreisler’s Falls.” The grandiose journalist notes that the group behaved as “children abandoning themselves to the charms of flowing water and whispering leaves.” Madame Kreisler, it appears, was distinctly aware of The Terrible in Ravenna’s large park. Pointing to “the bare and gaunt arms of the fifty-foot hazel ‘bushes’” that reached over the path, she said, “It is gorgeous but it is terrible too…those look like a great octopus reaching over us.”

Courtesy of Seattle Symphony Archives

The Kreislers and Bauer made it past the octopus tree unscathed, but a November 11, 1952, Seattle Times article reveals that visiting conductor Arthur Fiedler put himself in a bit more tangible danger. When Fiedler, the high-octane conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, was in Seattle to conduct Beethoven’s Fifth, Seattleite Stanley Sayres took him out for a Lake Washington cruise on his speedboat, the Slo-mo-shun IV. Sayres, who initiated Fiedler into the 100 Club — the boat got up to 130 mph, actually — said that Fiedler was “A particularly fine member. He enjoyed it.”

Said Fiedler, “Whew.”

Associate Principal Librarian Robert Olivia details other aspects of Fiedler’s Seattle visits in the below video.

What’s next for Seattle Symphony’s range of artists? Surfing winter swells in Westport?  Scaling Rainier’s notorious Liberty Ridge? Or simply pondering the Olympic skyline from the cobbled streets of Pike Place Market? Seattle has changed a lot, but 1911 or 2011, this is a place where landscape, whether directly engaged or simply absorbed in moments of contemplation, certainly makes its imprint on residents and visitors alike.

We’ve turned a new page here at the Seattle Symphony. This year we welcome a new Music Director, Ludovic Morlot, and yes, we’re very excited for the possibilities the future holds. But as we move forward, let’s not forget our pioneering roots.

It’s hard to believe that only a hundred years ago Seattle was a backwoods junction, the only major “metropolis” west of Minneapolis and north of San Francisco. In 1909, the same year Mahler completed his Ninth Symphony, the same year Rachmaninov composed his Piano Concerto No. 3, the young — and still largely wooded — city of Seattle was holding the The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition to showcase its development and to encourage trade. Long before our city was known for its coffee, its tech industry, and its jetliners, it was THE WOODS.

And yet we had an Orchestra. The fledgling Seattle Symphony Orchestra (which had decades of turmoil, name-changes, merges and splits ahead of it before things settled down) performed several free summer concerts at the AYP Exposition, and songs ranged from popular patriotic selections to established classics. The below program from July 18, 1909, featured works by Bizet and Rossini, among others.

Courtesy of Seattle Symphony Archives

Take a moment and think about a small, unknown orchestra playing for free in front of crowds up to 4,000 strong at the University of Washington Exposition grounds. Watch the following video, created by Seattle Symphony Associate Principal Librarian Robert Olivia, to get a better sense of how different our home was only a century ago. We’ve come a long way, baby.