How did Igor Stravinsky use instrumental sections differently in The Rite of Spring?

In The Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky revolutionized orchestration by departing from traditional roles assigned to instrumental sections.

Key shifts in his approach included:

• Subordination of Strings: Unlike in much of the classical repertoire where strings often hold a dominant melodic or structural role, Stravinsky frequently relegated them to a subservient position, playing music that supported the brass or woodwinds.1
• Elevation of Percussion: Percussion instruments gained significant importance in his score, moving away from their traditional role as mere rhythmic reinforcement to become essential contributors to the work's "percussive violence" and "barbaric" tone colors.21
• Empirical Sonority: Stravinsky treated instrumental sounds as "basic sound objects." Rather than adhering to established developmental practices, he experimented with chord combinations and spacings to create a cumulative, sculptural effect, prioritizing the specific gravity of these sonorities over traditional thematic development.2

These innovations, characterized by shifting rhythms and unresolved dissonances, marked a departure from the lush, color-focused orchestration of his predecessors, such as Claude Debussy, and established a new modernist standard for the 20th-century orchestra.21