Stravinsky composed ''Feu d'artifice'' as a wedding present for
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's daughter Nadezhda and
Maximilian Steinberg, who had married a few days before her father's death. ''Feu d'artifice'' helped develop Stravinsky's reputation as a composer, although it is not considered representative of his mature work. The work has some hints of
bitonality but is for the most part similar in style to that of Rimsky-Korsakov who, at the time, was his teacher and mentor. It has the form of a
scherzo but is still labeled "orchestral fantasy" because of its short length.
Alexander Siloti conducted the premiere on 6 February 1909. The accepted story is that Stravinsky got the commission from
Sergei Diaghilev to write
The Firebird (1910) in part because Diaghilev heard this piece of music and was impressed with its orchestration. However, Diaghilev had already commissioned Stravinsky to orchestrate two pieces of
Chopin (the
Grande valse brillante and
Nocturne in A flat) for the ballet
Les Sylphides. Feu d'artifice was used as the opener of the opening night of the
BBC Proms 2009. == Instrumentation ==