54 years ago today, April 6, 1971 (March 11, 1971 in the lunar calendar), composer Igor Stravinsky passed away. Igor Stravinsky On April 6, 1971, Russian-American composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky died of a heart attack at his residence in New York at the age of 88. Stravinsky was born in Russia in 1882, and his reputation has always been preserved for his work "The Rite of Spring". This piece caused a sensation in the music world when it premiered in Paris, with its powerful rhythm dwarfing all romantic works. However, Stravinsky was an eclectic genius. His evolving style drew on the essence of all great eras before him, particularly influenced by Schoenberg's twelve-tone school. For Leonard Bernstein, he was the "great old man" of the music world. In George Zorti's view,"he was the last musical genius of the 20th century."