Probably the most famous "modern" composer of the Twentieth Century. Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rites of Spring) is considered his opus major, but actually Petrouchka is much better. At least Petrouchka didn't start a riot.

Igor was not a man to overpraise, but he was not the capricious conductor for which no orchestra could ever please. After he came to America, he was amazed when he heard one of his more difficult symphonies played (in his words) to perfection by an orchestra from a small agricultural college. Realizing that outside of their rehearsals, the students were probably spending the rest of their time studying animal husbandry or how to best use fertilizers convinced him American instrumentalists were the best in the world.