![Igor Stravinsky LOC 32392u](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Igor_Stravinsky_LOC_32392u.jpg)
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential
composers of the 20th century and a pivotal figure in
modernist music
In music, modernism is an aesthetic stance underlying the period of change and development in musical language that occurred around the turn of the 20th century, a period of diverse reactions in challenging and reinterpreting older categories o ...
.
Stravinsky's compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the
impresario
An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer.
His ...
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...
and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's
Ballets Russes: ''
The Firebird
''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...
'' (1910), ''
Petrushka
Petrushka ( rus, Петру́шка, p=pʲɪtˈruʂkə, a=Ru-петрушка.ogg) is a stock character of Russian folk puppetry. Italian puppeteers introduced it in the first third of the 19th century. While most core characters came from Italy ...
'' (1911), and ''
The Rite of Spring
, image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg
, image_size = 350px
, caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of '
, composer = Igor Stravinsky
, based_on ...
'' (1913). The last transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure and was largely responsible for Stravinsky's enduring reputation as a revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design. His "Russian phase", which continued with works such as ''
Renard'', ''
L'Histoire du soldat
' (''The Soldier's Tale'') is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" () by three actors and one or several dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. Conceived by Igor Stravinsky and Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz, the piece was bas ...
,'' and ''
Les noces
''Les Noces'' (French for The Wedding; russian: Свадебка, ''Svadebka'') is a ballet and orchestral concert work composed by Igor Stravinsky for percussion, pianists, chorus, and vocal soloists. The composer gave it the descriptive title " ...
'', was followed in the 1920s by a period in which he turned to
neoclassicism. The works from this period tended to make use of traditional musical forms (
concerto grosso The concerto grosso (; Italian language, Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the ''#Concertino, concertino'') and full orc ...
,
fugue, and
symphony) and drew from earlier styles, especially those of the 18th century. In the 1950s, Stravinsky adopted
serial procedures. His compositions of this period shared traits with examples of his earlier output: rhythmic energy, the construction of extended melodic ideas out of a few two- or three-note
cells, and clarity of
form
Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens.
Form also refers to:
*Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data
...
and
instrumentation
Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making.
Instrumentation can refer to ...
.
Biography
Early life, 1882–1901
Stravinsky was born on 17 June 1882 in the town of
Oranienbaum on the southern coast of the
Gulf of Finland, west of
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. His father,
Fyodor Ignatievich Stravinsky (1843–1902), was an established
bass opera singer in the
Kiev Opera and the
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...
in Saint Petersburg and his mother, Anna Kirillovna Stravinskaya (''née'' Kholodovskaya; 1854–1939), a native of
Kiev, was one of four daughters of a high-ranking official in the Kiev Ministry of Estates. Igor was the third of their four sons; his brothers were Roman, Yury, and Gury.
The Stravinsky family was of Polish and Russian heritage, descended "from a long line of Polish grandees, senators and landowners". It is traceable to the 17th and 18th centuries to the bearers of the
Sulima and Strawiński coat of arms. The original family surname was Sulima-Strawiński; the name "Stravinsky" originated from the word "Strava", one of the variants of the
Streva River in Lithuania.
![Ustylug Vol-Volynskyi Volynska-Stravinskyi house after reconstruction in 2013-left view](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Ustylug_Vol-Volynskyi_Volynska-Stravinskyi_house_after_reconstruction_in_2013-left_view.jpg)
On 10 August 1882, Stravinsky was baptised at
Nikolsky Cathedral in Saint Petersburg.
[ Until 1914, he spent most of his summers in the town of ]Ustilug
Ustylúh (, , yi, אוסטילע ''Ustile'') is a town in Volodymyr Raion, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the east side of the Ukrainian-Polish border, and 8 miles (13 km) west of Volodymyr (city), Volodymyr. Population:
Igor Str ...
, now in Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, where his father-in-law owned an estate. Stravinsky's first school was The Second Saint Petersburg Gymnasium, where he stayed until his mid-teens. Then he moved to Gourevitch Gymnasium, a private school, where he studied history, mathematics, and languages (Latin, Greek, and Slavonic; and French, German, and his native Russian). Stravinsky expressed his general distaste for schooling and recalled being a lonely pupil: "I never came across anyone who had any real attraction for me."
Stravinsky took to music at an early age and began regular piano lessons at age nine, followed by tuition in music theory and composition. At around eight years old, he attended a performance of Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
's ballet '' The Sleeping Beauty'' at the Mariinsky Theatre, which began a lifelong interest in ballets and the composer himself. By age fifteen, Stravinsky had mastered Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...
's Piano Concerto No. 1 and finished a piano reduction of a string quartet by Alexander Glazunov, who reportedly considered Stravinsky unmusical and thought little of his skills.
Education and first compositions, 1901–1909
Despite Stravinsky's enthusiasm and ability in music, his parents expected him to study law, and he at first took to the subject. In 1901, he enrolled at the University of Saint Petersburg
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, studying criminal law and legal philosophy, but attendance at lectures was optional and he estimated that he turned up to fewer than fifty classes in his four years of study. In 1902, Stravinsky met Vladimir, a fellow student at the University of Saint Petersburg and the youngest son of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Rimsky-Korsakov at that time was arguably the leading Russian composer, and he was a professor at Saint Petersburg Conservatory of Music. Stravinsky wished to meet Vladimir's father to discuss his musical aspirations. He spent the summer of 1902 with Rimsky-Korsakov and his family in Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, Germany. Rimsky-Korsakov suggested to Stravinsky that he should not enter the Saint Petersburg Conservatory but continue private lessons in theory.
By the time of his father's death from cancer in 1902, Stravinsky was spending more time studying music than law. His decision to pursue music full time was helped when the university was closed for two months in 1905 in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday may refer to:
Historical events Canada
* Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
* Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...
, which prevented him from taking his final law exams. In April 1906, Stravinsky received a half-course diploma and concentrated on music thereafter. In 1905, he began studying with Rimsky-Korsakov twice a week and came to regard him as a second father. These lessons continued until Rimsky-Korsakov's death in 1908. Stravinsky completed his first composition during this time, the Symphony in E-flat, catalogued as Opus 1. In the wake of Rimsky-Korsakov's death, Stravinsky composed '' Funeral Song'', Op. 5 which was performed once and then considered lost until its re-discovery in 2015.
In August 1905, Stravinsky became engaged to his first cousin, Katherina Gavrylovna Nosenko. In spite of the Orthodox Church
Orthodox Church may refer to:
* Eastern Orthodox Church
* Oriental Orthodox Churches
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand
* State church of the Roman Empire
* True Orthodox church
See also
* Orthodox (di ...
's opposition to marriage between first cousins, the couple married on 23 January 1906. They lived in the family's residence at 6 Kryukov Canal in Saint Petersburg before they moved into a new home in Ustilug, which Stravinsky designed and built, and which he later called his "heavenly place". He wrote many of his first compositions there. It is now a museum with documents, letters, and photographs on display, and an annual Stravinsky Festival takes place in the nearby town of Lutsk
Lutsk ( uk, Луцьк, translit=Lutsk}, ; pl, Łuck ; yi, לוצק, Lutzk) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Lu ...
. Stravinsky and Nosenko's first two children, Fyodor
Fyodor, Fedor (russian: Фёдор) or Feodor is the Russian form of the name "Theodore (given name), Theodore" meaning “God’s Gift”. Fedora () is the feminine form. Fyodor and Fedor are two English transliterations of the same Russian name. ...
(Theodore) and Ludmila, were born in 1907 and 1908, respectively.
Ballets for Diaghilev and international fame, 1909–1920
By 1909, Stravinsky had composed two more pieces, ''Scherzo fantastique
''Scherzo fantastique'', op. 3, composed in 1908, is the second purely orchestral work by Igor Stravinsky (preceded by the Symphony in E-flat op.1). Despite the composer's later description of the work as "a piece of 'pure', symphonic music", the ...
'', Op. 3, and ''Feu d'artifice
''Feu d'artifice'', Op. 4 (''Fireworks'', russian: Фейерверк, ) is a composition by Igor Stravinsky, written in 1908 and described by the composer as a "short orchestral fantasy." It usually takes less than four minutes to perform.
C ...
'' ("Fireworks"), Op. 4. In February of that year, both were performed in Saint Petersburg at a concert that marked a turning point in Stravinsky's career. In the audience was Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...
, a Russian impresario and owner of the Ballets Russes who was struck with Stravinsky's compositions. He wished to stage a mix of Russian opera and ballet for the 1910 season in Paris, among them a new ballet from fresh talent that was based on the Russian fairytale of the Firebird
Firebird and fire bird may refer to:
Mythical birds
* Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures
* Bennu, Egyptian firebird
* Huma bird, Persian firebird
* Firebird (Slavic folklore)
Bird species
''Various sp ...
. After Anatoly Lyadov
Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (russian: Анато́лий Константи́нович Ля́дов; ) was a Russian composer, teacher, and conductor (music), conductor.
Biography
Lyadov was born in 1855 in Saint Petersburg, St. Petersbur ...
was given the task of composing the score, he informed Diaghilev that he needed about one year to complete it. Diaghilev then asked the 28-year-old Stravinsky, who had provided satisfactory orchestrations for him for the previous season at short notice and agreed to compose a full score. At about 50 minutes in length, ''The Firebird
''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...
'' was revised by Stravinsky for concert performance in 1911, 1919, and 1945.
''The Firebird'' premiered at the Opera de Paris
The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...
on 25 June 1910 to widespread critical acclaim and Stravinsky became an overnight sensation. As his wife was expecting their third child, the Stravinskys spent the summer in La Baule
La Baule-Escoublac (; br, Ar Baol-Skoubleg, ), commonly referred to as La Baule, is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, Pays de la Loire, western France.
A century-old seaside resort in southern Brittany with villas, casino, luxury h ...
in western France. In September, they moved to Clarens, Switzerland where their second son, Sviatoslav (Soulima), was born. The family would spend their summers in Russia and winters in Switzerland until 1914. Diaghilev commissioned Stravinsky to score a second ballet for the 1911 Paris season. The result was ''Petrushka
Petrushka ( rus, Петру́шка, p=pʲɪtˈruʂkə, a=Ru-петрушка.ogg) is a stock character of Russian folk puppetry. Italian puppeteers introduced it in the first third of the 19th century. While most core characters came from Italy ...
'', based the Russian folk tale featuring the titular character
The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...
, a puppet, who falls in love with another, a ballerina. Though it failed to capture the immediate reception that ''The Firebird'' had following its premiere at Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.
One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...
in June 1911, the production continued Stravinsky's success.
It was Stravinsky's third ballet for Diaghilev, ''The Rite of Spring
, image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg
, image_size = 350px
, caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of '
, composer = Igor Stravinsky
, based_on ...
'', that caused a sensation among critics, fellow composers, and concertgoers. Based on an original idea offered to Stravinsky by Nicholas Roerich, the production features a series of primitive rituals celebrating the advent of spring, after which a young girl is chosen as a sacrificial victim to the sun god Yarilo, and dances herself to death. Stravinsky's score contained many novel features for its time, including experiments in tonality, metre, rhythm, stress and dissonance. The radical nature of the music and choreography caused a near-riot at its premiere at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29 May 1913.
Shortly after the premiere, Stravinsky contracted typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...
from eating bad oysters and he was confined to a Paris nursing home. He left in July 1913 and returned to Ustilug. For the rest of the summer he focused on his first opera, '' The Nightingale'' (''Le Rossignol''), based on the same-titled story by Hans Christian Andersen, which he had started in 1908. On 15 January 1914, Stravinsky and Nosenko had their fourth child, Marie Milène (or Maria Milena). After her delivery, Nosenko was discovered to have tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
and was confined to a sanatorium
A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...
in Leysin
Leysin is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in the Aigle district of Switzerland. It is first mentioned around 1231–32 as ''Leissins'', in 1352 as ''Leisins''.
Located in the Vaud Alps, Leysin is a sunny alpine resort village at the easte ...
in the Alps. Stravinsky took up residence nearby, where he completed ''The Nightingale''. The work premiered in Paris in May 1914, after the Moscow Free Theatre had commissioned the piece for 10,000 rubles but soon became bankrupt. Diaghilev agreed for the Ballets Russes to stage it. The opera had only lukewarm success with the public and the critics, apparently because its delicacy did not meet their expectations following the tumultuous ''Rite of Spring''. However, composers including Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
, Bartók, and Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – '' mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100.
Hahn was born in Caracas ...
found much to admire in the score's craftsmanship, even alleging to detect the influence of Arnold Schoenberg.
In April 1914, Stravinsky and his family returned to Clarens. Following the outbreak of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
later that year, he was ineligible for military service due to health reasons. Stravinsky managed a short visit to Ustilug to retrieve personal items just before national borders were closed. In June 1915, he and his family moved from Clarens to Morges
Morges (; la, Morgiis, plural, probably ablative, else dative; frp, Môrges) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud and the seat of the district of Morges. It is located on Lake Geneva.
History
Morges is first mentioned in 1288 as ' ...
, a town six miles from Lausanne on the shore of Lake Geneva
, image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg
, caption = Satellite image
, image_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry =
, location = Switzerland, France
, coords =
, lake_type = Glacial la ...
. The family lived there (at three different addresses), until 1920. In December 1915, Stravinsky made his conducting debut at two concerts in aid of the Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
with ''The Firebird''. The war and subsequent Russian Revolution in 1917 made it impossible for Stravinsky to return to his homeland.
Stravinsky began to struggle financially in the late 1910s as Russia (and its successor, the USSR) did not adhere to the Berne Convention
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...
, thus creating problems for Stravinsky to collect royalties for the performances of his pieces for the Ballets Russes. He blamed Diaghilev for his financial troubles, accusing the impresario of failing to adhere to their contract. While composing his theatrical piece ''L'Histoire du soldat
' (''The Soldier's Tale'') is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" () by three actors and one or several dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. Conceived by Igor Stravinsky and Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz, the piece was bas ...
'' (''The Soldier's Tale''), Stravinsky approached Swiss philanthropist Werner Reinhart Werner Reinhart (19 March 1884 – 29 August 1951) was a Swiss merchant, philanthropist, amateur clarinetist, and patron of composers and writers, particularly Igor Stravinsky and Rainer Maria Rilke. Reinhart knew and corresponded with many artist ...
for financial assistance, who agreed to sponsor him and largely underwrite its first performance which took place in Lausanne in September 1918. In gratitude, Stravinsky dedicated the work to Reinhart and gave him the original manuscript. Reinhart supported Stravinsky further when he funded a series of concerts of his chamber music in 1919. In gratitude to his benefactor, Stravinsky also dedicated his ''Three Pieces for Clarinet'' to Reinhart, who was also an amateur clarinetist.
Following the premiere of ''Pulcinella
Pulcinella (; nap, Pulecenella) is a classical character that originated in of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. Pulcinella's versatility in status and attitude has captivated audiences worldwide and kept t ...
'' by the Ballets Russes in Paris on 15 May 1920, Stravinsky returned to Switzerland.
Life in France, 1920–1939
In June 1920, Stravinsky and his family left Switzerland for France, first settling in Carantec
Carantec (; br, Karanteg) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France.
Carantec is located on the coast of the English Channel. It con ...
, Brittany for the summer while they sought a permanent home in Paris. They soon heard from couturière Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...
, who invited the family to live in her Paris mansion until they had found their own residence. The Stravinskys accepted and arrived in September. Chanel helped secure a guarantee for a revival production of ''The Rite of Spring'' by the Ballets Russes from December 1920 with an anonymous gift to Diaghilev that was claimed to be worth 300,000 francs.
In 1920, Stravinsky signed a contract with the French piano manufacturing company Pleyel
Ignace Joseph Pleyel (; ; 18 June 1757 – 14 November 1831) was an Austrian-born French composer, music publisher and piano builder of the Classical period.
Life Early years
He was born in in Lower Austria, the son of a schoolmaster named Ma ...
. As part of the deal, Stravinsky transcribed most of his compositions for their player piano
A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern im ...
, the Pleyela. The company helped collect Stravinsky's mechanical royalties for his works and provided him with a monthly income. In 1921, he was given studio space at their Paris headquarters where he worked and entertained friends and acquaintances. The piano rolls were not recorded, but were instead marked up from a combination of manuscript fragments and handwritten notes by Jacques Larmanjat, musical director of Pleyel's roll department. During the 1920s, Stravinsky recorded Duo-Art
Duo-Art was one of the leading reproducing piano technologies of the early 20th century, the others being American Piano Company (Ampico), introduced in 1913 too, and Welte-Mignon in 1905. These technologies flourished at that time because of th ...
piano rolls for the Aeolian Company The Aeolian Company was a musical-instrument making firm whose products included player organs, pianos, sheet music, records and phonographs. Founded in 1887, it was at one point the world's largest such firm. During the mid 20th century, it surp ...
in London and New York City, not all of which have survived.
Stravinsky met Vera de Bosset
Vera de Bosset Stravinsky (January 7, 1889 – September 17, 1982) was an American dancer and artist. She is better known as the second wife of composer Igor Stravinsky, who married her in 1940.
Life
Vera de Bosset was born Vera Bosse, the d ...
in Paris in February 1921, while she was married to the painter and stage designer Serge Sudeikin
Sergey Yurievich Sudeikin, also known as Serge Soudeikine (19 March 1882 in Smolensk – 12 August 1946 in Nyack, New York), was a Russian artist and set-designer associated with the Ballets Russes and the Metropolitan Opera.
Biography
Havin ...
, and they began an affair that led to de Bosset leaving her husband.
In May 1921, Stravinsky and his family moved to Anglet, a town close to the Spanish border. Their stay was short-lived as by the autumn, they had settled to nearby Biarritz and Stravinsky completed his ''Trois mouvements de Petrouchka
''Trois mouvements de Petrouchka'' or ''Three Movements from Petrushka'' is an arrangement for piano of music from the ballet ''Petrushka'' by the composer Igor Stravinsky for the pianist Arthur Rubinstein.
History
Sergei Diaghilev, who had commi ...
'', a piano transcription of excerpts from ''Petrushka'' for Artur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist. . Diaghilev then requested orchestrations for a revival production of Tchaikovsky's ballet ''The Sleeping Beauty''. From then until his wife's death in 1939, Stravinsky led a double life, dividing his time between his family in Anglet, and Vera in Paris and on tour. Katya reportedly bore her husband's infidelity "with a mixture of magnanimity, bitterness, and compassion".
In June 1923, Stravinsky's ballet ''Les noces
''Les Noces'' (French for The Wedding; russian: Свадебка, ''Svadebka'') is a ballet and orchestral concert work composed by Igor Stravinsky for percussion, pianists, chorus, and vocal soloists. The composer gave it the descriptive title " ...
'' (''The Wedding'') premiered in Paris and performed by the Ballets Russes. In the following month, he started to receive money from an anonymous patron from the US who insisted to remain anonymous and only identified themselves as "Madame". They promised to send him $6,000 in the course of three years, and sent Stravinsky an initial cheque for $1,000. Despite some payments not being sent, Robert Craft
Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books.
...
believed that the patron was famed conductor Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...
, whom Stravinsky had recently met, and theorised that the conductor wanted to win Stravinsky over to visit the US.
In September 1924, Stravinsky bought a new home in Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
. Here, the composer re-evaluated his religious beliefs and reconnected with his Christian faith with help from a Russian priest, Father Nicholas. He also thought of his future, and used the experience of conducting the premiere of his ''Octet
Octet may refer to:
Music
* Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble
** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments
*** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 compos ...
'' at one of Serge Koussevitzky's concerts the year before to build on his career as a conductor. Koussevitzky asked for Stravinsky to compose a new piece for one of his upcoming concerts; Stravinsky agreed to a piano concerto, to which Koussevitzky convinced him that he be the soloist at its premiere. Stravinsky agreed, and the ''Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments The Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments was written by Igor Stravinsky in Paris in 1923–24. This work was revised in 1950.
It was composed four years after the ''Symphonies of Wind Instruments'', which he wrote upon his arrival in Paris after ...
'' was first performed in May 1924. The piece was a success, and Stravinsky secured himself the rights to exclusively perform the work for the next five years. Following a European tour through the latter half of 1924, Stravinsky completed his first US tour in early 1925 which spanned two months. It opened with Stravinsky conducting an all-Stravinsky program at Carnegie Hall. He visited Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
six times, and the first time, in 1924, after holding three concerts with the Pau Casals Orchestra at the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Gran may refer to:
People
*Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran"
* Gran (name)
Places
* Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary
* Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet cou ...
, he stated: "Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
will be unforgettable for me. What I liked most was the cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
and the sardana
The ''sardana'' (; plural ''sardanes'' in Catalan) is a Catalan musical genre typical of Catalan culture and danced in circle following a set of steps. The dance was originally from the Empordà region, but started gaining popularity throughou ...
s".
In May 1927, Stravinsky's opera-oratorio '' Oedipus Rex'' premiered in Paris. The funding of its production was largely provided by Winnaretta Singer, Princesse Edmond de Polignac, who paid 12,000 francs for a private preview of the piece at her house. Stravinsky gave the money to Diaghilev to help finance the public performances. The premiere received a reaction, which irked Stravinsky, who had started to become annoyed at the public's fixation towards his early ballets. In the summer of 1927 Stravinsky received a commission from Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, his first from the US. A wealthy patroness of music, Coolidge requested a thirty-minute ballet score for a festival to be held at the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
, for a $1,000 fee. Stravinsky accepted and wrote ''Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...
'', which premiered in 1928.
From 1931 to 1933, the Stravinskys lived in Voreppe
Voreppe () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration).Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
in southeastern France. In June 1934, the couple acquired French citizenship. Later in that year, they left Voreppe to live on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
The Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré () is a street located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Relatively narrow and nondescript, especially in comparison to the nearby Avenue des Champs-Élysées, it is cited as being one of the most lux ...
in Paris, where they stayed for five years. The composer used his citizenship to publish his memoirs in French, entitled ''Chroniques de ma Vie'' in 1935, and underwent a US tour with Samuel Dushkin
Samuel Dushkin (December 13, 1891 – June 24, 1976) was an American violinist, composer, and pedagogue of Polish birth and Jewish origin.
Dushkin was born in Suwałki, Poland. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, as well as with Leopold ...
. His only composition of that year was the ''Concerto for Two Solo Pianos'', which was written for himself and his son Soulima using a special double piano that Pleyel had built. The pair completed a tour of Europe and South America in 1936. In April 1937 in New York City he directed his three-part ballet '' Jeu de cartes'', itself a commission for Lincoln Kirstein's ballet company with choreography by George Balanchine. Stravinsky later remembered this last European address as his unhappiest. Upon his return to Europe, Stravinsky left Paris for Annemasse
Annemasse (; Arpitan: ''Anemâsse'') is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Even though it covers a relatively small territory (4.98 km2 or 1.92 sq mi), it is Haute-Savoie's second ...
near the Swiss border to be near his family, after his wife and daughters Ludmila and Milena had contracted tuberculosis and were in a sanatorium. Ludmila died in late 1938, followed by his wife of 33 years, in March 1939. Stravinsky himself spent five months in hospital at Sancellemoz
Sancellemoz is a sanatorium in the town of Passy, in Haute-Savoie, eastern France. Professor Marie Curie
Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and natur ...
, during which time his mother also died.
During his later years in Paris, Stravinsky had developed professional relationships with key people in the United States: he was already working on his Symphony in C for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...
and he had agreed to accept the Charles Eliot Norton Chair of Poetry of 1939–1940 at Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
and while there, deliver six lectures on music as part of the prestigious Charles Eliot Norton Lectures
The Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry at Harvard University was established in 1925 as an annual lectureship in "poetry in the broadest sense" and named for the university's former professor of fine arts. Distinguished creative figure ...
.
Life in the United States, 1939–1971
Early US years, 1939–1945
Stravinsky arrived in New York City on 30 September 1939 and headed for Cambridge, Massachusetts to fulfill his engagements at Harvard. During his first two months in the US, Stravinsky stayed at Gerry's Landing, the home of art historian Edward W. Forbes. Vera arrived in January 1940 and the couple married on 9 March in Bedford, Massachusetts
Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,383 at the time of the 2020 United States Census.
History
''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information ...
. After a period of travel, the two moved into a home in Beverly Hills, California before they settled in Hollywood from 1941. Stravinsky felt the warmer Californian climate would benefit his health. Stravinsky had adapted to life in France, but moving to America at the age of 58 was a very different prospect. For a while, he maintained a circle of contacts and émigré
An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate".
French Huguenots
Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...
friends from Russia, but he eventually found that this did not sustain his intellectual and professional life. He was drawn to the growing cultural life of Los Angeles, especially during World War II, when writers, musicians, composers, and conductors settled in the area. Music critic Bernard Holland
Bernard Holland (born 1933) is an American music critic. He served on the staff of '' The New York Times'' from 1981 until 2008 and held the post of chief music critic from 1995, contributing 4,575 articles to the newspaper. He then became the Nat ...
claimed Stravinsky was especially fond of British writers, who visited him in Beverly Hills, "like W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, Christopher Isherwood, Dylan Thomas. They shared the composer's taste for hard spirits – especially Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxle ...
, with whom Stravinsky spoke in French." Stravinsky and Huxley had a tradition of Saturday lunches for west coast avant-garde and luminaries.
In 1940, Stravinsky completed his ''Symphony in C'' and conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at its premiere later that year. It was at this time when Stravinsky began to associate himself with film music; the first major film to use his music was Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's animated feature ''Fantasia
Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...
'' (1940) which includes parts of ''The Rite of Spring'' rearranged by Leopold Stokowski to a segment depicting the history of Earth and the age of dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s. Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
urged Stravinsky to write the score for ''Jane Eyre
''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
'' (1943), but negotiations broke down; a piece used in one of the film's hunting scenes was used in Stravinsky's orchestral work ''Ode
An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...
'' (1943). An offer to score '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943) also fell through; Stravinsky deemed the terms fell into the producer's favour. Music he had written for the film was later used in his '' Symphony in Three Movements''.
Stravinsky's unconventional dominant seventh chord in his arrangement of the " Star-Spangled Banner" led to an incident with the Boston police on 15 January 1944, and he was warned that the authorities could impose a $100 fine upon any "re-arrangement of the national anthem in whole or in part". The police, as it turned out, were wrong. The law in question merely forbade using the national anthem "as dance music, as an exit march, or as a part of a medley of any kind", but the incident soon established itself as a myth, in which Stravinsky was supposedly arrested, held in custody for several nights, and photographed for police records.
On 28 December 1945, Stravinsky and his wife Vera became naturalized US citizens. Their sponsor and witness was actor Edward G. Robinson.
Last major works, 1945–1966
On the same day Stravinsky became an American citizen, he arranged for Boosey & Hawkes to publish rearrangements of several of his compositions and used his newly acquired American citizenship to secure a copyright on the material, thus allowing him to earn money from them. The five-year contract was finalised and signed in January 1947 which included a guarantee of $10,000 per for the first two years, then $12,000 for the remaining three.
In late 1945, Stravinsky received a commission from Europe, his first since ''Perséphone'', in the form of a string piece for the 20th anniversary for Paul Sacher
Paul Sacher (28 April 190626 May 1999) was a Swiss conductor, patron and billionaire businessperson. At the time of his death Sacher was majority shareholder of pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and was considered the third richest person i ...
's Basle Chamber Orchestra. The '' Concerto in D'' premiered in 1947. In January 1946, Stravinsky conducted the premiere of his ''Symphony in Three Movements'' at Carnegie Hall in New York City. It marked his first premiere in the US. In 1947, Stravinsky was inspired to write his English-language opera ''The Rake's Progress
''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Prog ...
'' by a visit to a Chicago exhibition of the same-titled series of paintings by the eighteenth-century British artist William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like ...
, which tells the story of a fashionable wastrel descending into ruin. Auden and writer Chester Kallman
Chester Simon Kallman (January 7, 1921 – January 18, 1975) was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for collaborating with W. H. Auden on opera librettos for Igor Stravinsky and other composers.
Life
Kallman was born in ...
worked on the libretto. The opera premiered in 1951 and marks the final work of Stravinsky's neoclassical period. While composing ''The Rake's Progress'', Stravinsky befriended Robert Craft
Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books.
...
, who became his personal assistant and close friend and encouraged the composer to write serial music
In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were als ...
. This began Stravinsky's third and final distinct musical period which lasted until his death.
In 1953, Stravinsky agreed to compose a new opera with a libretto by Dylan Thomas, which detailed the recreation of the world after one man and one woman remained on Earth after a nuclear disaster. Development on the project came to a sudden end following Thomas's death in November of that year. Stravinsky completed ''In Memorian Dylan Thomas'', a piece for tenor, string quartet, and four trombones, in 1954.
In 1961, Igor and Vera Stravinsky and Robert Craft traveled to London, Zürich and Cairo on their way to Australia where Stravinsky and Craft conducted all-Stravinsky concerts in Sydney and Melbourne. They returned to California via New Zealand, Tahiti, and Mexico. In January 1962, during his tour's stop in Washington, D.C., Stravinsky attended a dinner at the White House with President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
in honour of his eightieth birthday, where he received a special medal for "the recognition his music has achieved throughout the world". In September 1962, Stravinsky returned to Russia for the first time since 1914, accepting an invitation from the Union of Soviet Composers
The Union of Russian Composers (formerly the Union of Soviet Composers, Order of Lenin Union of Composers of USSR () (1932- ), and Union of Soviet Composers of the USSR) is a state-created organization for musicians and musicologists created in 193 ...
to conduct six performances in Moscow and Leningrad. During the three-week visit he met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
and several leading Soviet composers, including Dmitri Shostakovich and Aram Khachaturian
Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenia ...
. Stravinsky did not return to his Hollywood home until December 1962 in what was almost eight months of continual travelling. Following the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, Stravinsky completed his '' Elegy for J.F.K.'' in the following year. The two-minute work took the composer two days to write.
By early 1964, the long periods of travel had started to affect Stravinsky's health. His case of polycythemia
Polycythemia (also known as polycythaemia) is a laboratory finding in which the hematocrit (the volume percentage of red blood cells in the blood) and/or hemoglobin concentration are increased in the blood. Polycythemia is sometimes called eryth ...
had worsened and his friends had noticed that his movements and speech had slowed. In 1965, Stravinsky agreed to have David Oppenheim produce a documentary film about himself for the CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
network. It involved a film crew following the composer at home and on tour that year, and he was paid $10,000 for the production. The documentary includes Stravinsky's visit to Les Tilleuls, the house in Clarens, Switzerland, where he wrote the majority of ''The Rite of Spring''. The crew asked Soviet authorities for permission to film Stravinsky returning to his hometown of Ustilug, but the request was denied. In 1966, Stravinsky completed his last major work, the ''Requiem Canticles
''Requiem Canticles'' is a 15-minute composition by Igor Stravinsky, for contralto and bass soli, chorus, and orchestra. Stravinsky completed the work in 1966, and it received its first performance that same year.
The work is a partial setting of ...
''.
Final years and death, 1967–1971
In February 1967, Stravinsky and Craft directed their own concert in Miami, Florida, the composer's first in that state. By this time, Stravinsky's typical performance fee had grown to $10,000. However subsequently, upon doctor's orders, offers to perform that required him to fly were generally declined. An exception to this was a concert at Massey Hall
Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An intimate theatre, it was originally designed to sea ...
in Toronto, Canada in May 1967, where he conducted the relatively physically undemanding ''Pulcinella'' suite with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...
. He had become increasingly frail and for the only time in his career, Stravinsky conducted while sitting down. It was his final performance as conductor in his lifetime. While backstage at the venue, Stravinsky informed Craft that he believed he had suffered a stroke. In August 1967, Stravinsky was hospitalised in Hollywood for bleeding stomach ulcers and thrombosis which required a blood transfusion. In his diary, Craft wrote that he spoon-fed the ailing composer and held his hand: "He says the warmth diminishes the pain."
By 1968, Stravinsky had recovered enough to resume touring across the US with him in the audience while Craft took to the conductor's post for the majority of the concerts. In May 1968, Stravinsky completed the piano arrangement of two songs by Austrian composer Hugo Wolf for a small orchestra. In October Stravinsky, Vera, and Craft travelled to Zurich, Switzerland to sort out business matters with Stravinsky's family. While there, Stravinsky's son Theodore held the manuscript of ''The Rite of Spring'' while Stravinsky signed it before giving it to Vera. The three considered relocating to Switzerland as they had become increasingly less fond of Hollywood, but they decided against it and returned to the US.
In October 1969, after close to three decades in California and being denied to travel overseas by his doctors due to ill health, Stravinsky and Vera secured a two-year lease for a luxury three bedroom apartment in Essex House in New York City. Craft moved in with them, effectively putting his career on hold to care for the ailing composer. Among Stravinsky's final projects was orchestrating two preludes from ''The Well-Tempered Clavier
''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of i ...
'' by Bach, but it was never completed.[ He was hospitalised in April 1970 following a bout of pneumonia, which he successfully recovered from. Two months later, he travelled to ]Évian-les-Bains
Évian-les-Bains (), or simply Évian ( frp, Èvian, , or ), is a commune in the northern part of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 9,100.
A high-market holid ...
by Lake Geneva where he reunited with his eldest son Theodore and niece Xenia.
On 18 March 1971, Stravinsky was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many unive ...
with pulmonary edema
Pulmonary edema, also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive liquid accumulation in the tissue and air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause hypoxemia and respiratory failure. It is due t ...
where he stayed for ten days. On 29 March, he moved into a newly furnished apartment at 920 Fifth Avenue, his first city apartment since living in Paris in 1939. After a period of well being, the edema returned on 4 April and Vera insisted that medical equipment should be installed in the apartment. Stravinsky soon stopped eating and drinking and died at 5:20 a.m. on 6 April at the age of 88. The cause on his death certificate is heart failure. A funeral service was held three days later at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel
The Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel is a funeral home located on Madison Avenue at 81st Street in Manhattan. Founded in 1898 as Frank E. Campbell Burial and Cremation Company, the company is now owned by Service Corporation International. The fun ...
. As per his wishes, he was buried in the Russian corner of the cemetery island of San Michele in Venice, Italy, several yards from the tomb of Sergei Diaghilev, having been brought there by gondola after a service at Santi Giovanni e Paolo led by Cherubin Malissianos, Archimandrite
The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") wh ...
of the Greek Orthodox Church.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 1987 he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
for Lifetime Achievement
Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions.
Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include:
A
* A.C. ...
. He was posthumously inducted into the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame, in the Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs, New York, was established in 1986. It contains photographs, videos, artifacts, costumes, and biographies. The museum is located in the former Washi ...
in 2004.
Music
Stravinsky's output is typically divided into three general style periods: a Russian period, a neoclassical period, and a serial period.
Russian period (–1919)
Aside from a very few surviving earlier works, Stravinsky's Russian period, sometimes called primitive period, began with compositions undertaken under the tutelage of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, with whom he studied from 1905 until Rimsky's death in 1908, including the orchestral works Symphony in E major (1907), ''Faun and Shepherdess'' (for mezzo-soprano and orchestra; 1907), ''Scherzo fantastique'' (1908), and ''Feu d'artifice'' (1908/9). These works clearly reveal the influence of Rimsky-Korsakov, but as Richard Taruskin
Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...
has shown, they also reveal Stravinsky's knowledge of music by Glazunov, Taneyev, Tchaikovsky, Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
, Dvořák, and Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
, among others.
In 1908, Stravinsky composed ''Funeral Song'' (Погребальная песня), Op. 5 to commemorate the death of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The piece premiered 17 January 1909 in the Grand Hall of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory but was then lost until September 2015, when it resurfaced in a back room of the city's Conservatoire. It was played again for the first time in over a century on 2 December 2016. The rediscovery generated much enthusiasm and, as a result, over 25 performances were scheduled in 2017.
Performances in St. Petersburg of ''Scherzo fantastique'' and ''Feu d'artifice'' attracted the attention of Serge Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...
, who commissioned Stravinsky to orchestrate two piano works of Chopin for the ballet ''Les Sylphides
''Les Sylphides'' () is a short, non-narrative '' ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov.
The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact disk ...
'' to be presented in the 1909 debut "Saison Russe" of his new ballet company.
''The Firebird'' was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 25 June 1910 by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Like Stravinsky's earlier student works, ''The Firebird'' continued to look backward to Rimsky-Korsakov not only in its orchestration, but also in its overall structure, harmonic organization, and melodic content.
According to Taruskin, Stravinsky's second ballet for the Ballet Russes, ''Petrushka'', is where "Stravinsky at last became Stravinsky."
The music itself makes significant use of a number of Russian folk tunes in addition to two waltzes by Viennese composer Joseph Lanner
Joseph Franz Karl Lanner (12 April 1801 – 14 April 1843) was an Austrian dance music composer and dance orchestra conductor. He is best remembered as one of the earliest Viennese composers to reform the waltz from a simple peasant dance to s ...
and a French music hall tune (''La Jambe en bois'' or ''The Wooden Leg'').
In April 1915, Stravinsky received a commission from Singer (Princesse Edmond de Polignac) for a small-scale theatrical work to be performed in her Paris salon. The result was '' Renard'' (1916), which he called "A burlesque in song and dance".
Neoclassical period (–1954)
''Apollon musagète
''Apollo'' (originally ''Apollon musagète'' and variously known as ''Apollo musagetes'', ''Apolo Musageta'', and ''Apollo, Leader of the Muses'') is a neoclassical ballet in two '' tableaux'' composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky ...
'' (1928), ''Perséphone'' (1933) and ''Orpheus'' (1947) exemplify not only Stravinsky's return to the music of the Classical period but also his exploration of themes from the ancient Classical world, such as Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
. Important works in this period include the Octet (1923), the Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments The Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments was written by Igor Stravinsky in Paris in 1923–24. This work was revised in 1950.
It was composed four years after the ''Symphonies of Wind Instruments'', which he wrote upon his arrival in Paris after ...
(1924), the Serenade in A (1925), and ''Symphony of Psalms
The ''Symphony of Psalms'' is a choral symphony in three movements composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1930 during his neoclassical period. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orc ...
'' (1930).
In 1951, he completed his last neoclassical work, the opera ''The Rake's Progress
''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Prog ...
'' to a libretto by Auden and Kallman Kallman is a surname of the following people:
*Brent Kallman (born 1990), American association football player
*Brian Kallman (born 1984), American association football player, brother of Brent
*Chester Kallman (1921–1975), American poet, libre ...
based on the etchings of Hogarth. It premiered in Venice that year and was produced around Europe the following year before being staged in the New York Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
in 1953. It was staged by the Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newl ...
in a 1962 Stravinsky Festival in honor of the composer's 80th birthday and was revived by the Metropolitan Opera in 1997.
Serial period (1954–1968)
In the 1950s, Stravinsky began using serial compositional techniques such as dodecaphony
The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...
, the twelve-tone technique originally devised by Schoenberg. He first experimented with non-twelve-tone serial techniques in small-scale vocal and chamber works such as the '' Cantata'' (1952), the Septet
A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...
(1953) and ''Three Songs from Shakespeare'' (1953). The first of his compositions fully based on such techniques was ''In Memoriam Dylan Thomas'' (1954). '' Agon'' (1954–57) was the first of his works to include a twelve-tone series and (1955) was the first piece to contain a movement entirely based on a tone row
In music, a tone row or note row (german: Reihe or '), also series or set, is a non-repetitive ordering of a set of pitch-classes, typically of the twelve notes in musical set theory of the chromatic scale, though both larger and smaller sets ...
. Stravinsky expanded his use of dodecaphony in works such as '' Threni'' (1958) and '' A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer'' (1961), which are based on biblical texts, and '' The Flood'' (1962), which mixes brief biblical texts from the Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
with passages from the York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and Chester Mystery Plays
The Chester Mystery Plays is a cycle of mystery plays originating in the city of Chester, England and dating back to at least the early part of the 15th century.
Origins and history
Biblical dramas were being performed across continental Eur ...
.
Innovation and influence
Stravinsky has been called "one of music's truly epochal innovators".[AMG 2008. "Igor Stravinsky" biography ''AllMusic''.] The most important aspect of Stravinsky's work, aside from his technical innovations (including in rhythm and harmony), is the "changing face" of his compositional style while always "retaining a distinctive, essential identity".
Stravinsky's use of motivic development
In music, a motif IPA: ( /moʊˈtiːf/) (also motive) is a short musical phrase, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition: "The motiv ...
(the use of musical figures that are repeated in different guises throughout a composition or section of a composition) included additive motivic development. This is a technique in which notes are removed from or added to a motif without regard to the consequent changes in metre. A similar technique can be found as early as the 16th century, for example in the music of Cipriano de Rore
Cipriano de Rore (occasionally Cypriano) (1515 or 1516 – between 11 and 20 September 1565) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy. Not only was he a central representative of the generation of Franco-Flemish compose ...
, Orlandus Lassus
Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Pales ...
, Carlo Gesualdo and Giovanni de Macque
Giovanni de Macque (Giovanni de Maque, Jean de Macque) (1548/1550 – September 1614) was a Netherlandish composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque, who spent almost his entire life in Italy. He was one of the most famous Neapolitan compo ...
, music with which Stravinsky exhibited considerable familiarity.
The ''Rite of Spring'' is notable for its relentless use of ostinati
In music, an ostinato (; derived from Italian word for ''stubborn'', compare English ''obstinate'') is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces include ...
, for example in the eighth-note ostinato on strings accented by eight horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
in the section "Augurs of Spring (Dances of the Young Girls)". The work also contains passages where several ostinati clash against one another. Stravinsky was noted for his distinctive use of rhythm, especially in the ''Rite of Spring'' (1913). According to the composer Philip Glass, "the idea of pushing the rhythms across the bar lines ..led the way .. The rhythmic structure of music became much more fluid and in a certain way spontaneous." Glass mentions Stravinsky's "primitive, offbeat rhythmic drive". According to Andrew J. Browne, "Stravinsky is perhaps the only composer who has raised rhythm in itself to the dignity of art." Stravinsky's rhythm and vitality greatly influenced the composer Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...
.
Over the course of his career, Stravinsky called for a wide variety of orchestral, instrumental, and vocal forces, ranging from single instruments in such works as ''Three Pieces for Clarinet'' (1918) or ''Elegy for Solo Viola'' (1944) to the enormous orchestra of ''The'' ''Rite of Spring'' (1913), which Copland characterized as "the foremost orchestral achievement of the 20th century".
Stravinsky’s creation of unique and idiosyncratic ensembles arising from the specific musical nature of individual works is a basic element of his style.
Following the model of his teacher, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky’s student works such as the Symphony in E, Op. 1 (1907), ''Scherzo fantastique'', Op. 3 (1908), and ''Fireworks'' (''Feu d'artifice''), Op. 4 (1908), call for large orchestral forces. The Symphony, for example, calls for 3 flutes (3rd doubles piccolo), 2 oboes, 3 clarinets in B, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in B, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, triangle, cymbals, and strings. The ''Scherzo fantastique'' calls for a slightly larger orchestra but completely omits trombones: this was Stravinsky’s response to Rimsky’s criticism of their overuse in the Symphony.
The three ballets composed for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes call for particularly large orchestras:
* ''The Firebird'' (1910) is scored for the following orchestra: 2 piccolos (2nd doubles 3rd flute), 2 flutes, 3 oboes, cor anglais, 3 clarinets in A (3rd doubles piccolo clarinet in D), bass clarinet, 3 bassoons (3rd doubles contrabassoon 2), contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets in A, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, celesta, piano, 3 harps, and strings. The percussion section requires bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, tam-tam, tubular bells, glockenspiel, and xylophone. In addition, the original version calls for 3 onstage trumpets and 4 onstage Wagner tubas (2 tenor and 2 bass).
* The original version of ''Petrushka
Petrushka ( rus, Петру́шка, p=pʲɪtˈruʂkə, a=Ru-петрушка.ogg) is a stock character of Russian folk puppetry. Italian puppeteers introduced it in the first third of the 19th century. While most core characters came from Italy ...
'' (1911) calls for a similar orchestra (without onstage brass, but ''with'' the addition of onstage snare drum). The particularly prominent role of the piano is the result of the music's origin as a ''Konzertstück'' for piano and orchestra.
* ''The Rite of Spring'' (1913) calls for the largest orchestra Stravinsky ever employed: piccolo, 3 flutes (3rd doubles 2nd piccolo), alto flute, 4 oboes (4th doubles 2nd cor anglais), cor anglais, piccolo clarinet in D/E, 3 clarinets (3rd doubles 2nd bass clarinet), bass clarinet, 4 bassoons (4th doubles 2nd contrabassoon), contrabassoon, 8 horns (7th and 8th double tenor tubas), piccolo trumpet in D, 4 trumpets in C (4th doubles bass trumpet in E), 3 trombones, 2 tubas, 2 timpanists (5 drums), 4 percussionists, and strings. The percussion section requires bass drum, tamtam, triangle, tambourine, cymbals, crotales, and guiro.
Included among his students in the 1940s was the American composer and music educator Robert Strassburg
Robert Strassburg (August 30, 1915 – October 25, 2003) was a
leading American conductor, composer, musicologist and music educator of the twentieth century. His studies in music were completed under the supervision of such leading composers ...
. In 1959, he was awarded the Sonning Award, Denmark's highest musical honour. In the early 1960s his students included Craft and Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician.
Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...
.
Personality
Stravinsky displayed a taste in literature that was wide and reflected his constant desire for new discoveries. The texts and literary sources for his work began with a period of interest in Russian folklore
Folklore of Russia is folklore of Russians and other ethnic groups of Russia.
Russian folklore takes its roots in the pagan beliefs of ancient Slavs and now is represented in the Russian fairy tales. Epic Russian bylinas are also an important ...
, which progressed to classical authors and the Latin liturgy and moved on to contemporary France (André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...
, in ''Persephone'') and eventually English literature, including Auden, T. S. Eliot, and medieval English verse.
He also had an inexhaustible desire to explore and learn about art, which manifested itself in several of his Paris collaborations. Not only was he the principal composer for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, but he also collaborated with Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
(''Pulcinella'', 1920), Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...
(''Oedipus Rex'', 1927), and Balanchine (, 1928). His interest in art propelled him to develop a strong relationship with Picasso, whom he met in 1917, announcing that in "a whirlpool of artistic enthusiasm and excitement I at last met Picasso." From 1917 to 1920, the two engaged in an artistic dialogue in which they exchanged small-scale works of art to each other as a sign of intimacy, which included the famous portrait of Stravinsky by Picasso, and Stravinsky's "Sketch of Music for the Clarinet". This exchange was essential to establish how the artists would approach their collaborative space in ''Pulcinella''.
The young Stravinsky was sympathetic to bourgeois liberalism and the aims of the Constitutional Democratic Party
The Constitutional Democratic Party (russian: Конституцио́нно-демократи́ческая па́ртия, translit=Konstitutsionno-demokraticheskaya partiya, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of P ...
, even composing an anthem for the Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...
, before shifting heavily towards the right following the October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...
. In 1930, he remarked, "I don't believe that anyone venerates Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
more than I ... I know many exalted personages, and my artist's mind does not shrink from political and social issues. Well, after having seen so many events and so many more or less representative men, I have an overpowering urge to render homage to your Duce. He is the saviour of Italy and – let us hope – Europe." Later, after a private audience with Mussolini, he added, "Unless my ears deceive me, the voice of Rome is the voice of ''Il Duce''. I told him that I felt like a fascist myself... In spite of being extremely busy, Mussolini did me the great honour of conversing with me for three-quarters of an hour. We talked about music, art and politics". When the Nazis placed Stravinsky's works on the list of , he lodged a formal appeal to establish his Russian genealogy and declared, "I loathe all communism, Marxism, the execrable Soviet monster, and also all liberalism, democratism, atheism, etc."
Upon relocating to America in the 1940s, Stravinsky again embraced the liberalism of his youth, remarking that Europeans "can have their generalissimos and Führers. Leave me Mr. Truman and I'm satisfied." Towards the end of his life, at Craft's behest, Stravinsky made a return visit to his native country and composed a cantata in Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, travelling to Israel for its performance.
Stravinsky proved adept at playing the part of a 'man of the world', acquiring a keen instinct for business matters and appearing relaxed and comfortable in public. His successful career as a pianist and conductor took him to many of the world's major cities, including Paris, Venice, Berlin, London, Amsterdam and New York City and he was known for his polite, courteous and helpful manner. Stravinsky was reputed to have been a philanderer and was rumoured to have had affairs with high-profile partners, such as Coco Chanel. He never referred to it himself, but Chanel spoke about the alleged affair at length to her biographer Paul Morand
Paul Morand (13 March 1888 – 24 July 1976) was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was mu ...
in 1946; the conversation was published thirty years later. The accuracy of Chanel's claims has been disputed by both Stravinsky's widow, Vera, and by Craft. Chanel's fashion house avers there is no evidence that any affair between Chanel and Stravinsky ever occurred. A fictionalization of the supposed affair formed the basis of the novel '' Coco and Igor'' (2002) and a film, '' Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky'' (2009). Despite these alleged liaisons, Stravinsky was considered a family man and devoted to his children.
Religion
Stravinsky was a devout member of the Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
during most of his life, remarking at one time that,
The Church knew what the psalmist
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
knew. Music praises God. Music is well or better able to praise him than the building of the church and all its decoration; it is the Church's greatest ornament.
As a child, he was brought up by his parents in the Russian Orthodox Church. Baptized at birth, he later rebelled against the Church and abandoned it by the time he was fourteen or fifteen years old. Throughout the rise of his career he was estranged from Christianity and it was not until he reached his early forties that he experienced a spiritual crisis. After befriending a Russian Orthodox priest, Father Nicholas, after his move to Nice in 1924, he reconnected with his faith. He rejoined the Russian Orthodox Church and afterwards remained a committed Christian. Robert Craft noted that Stravinsky prayed daily, before and after composing, and also prayed when facing difficulty. Towards the end of his life, he was no longer able to attend church services, though he affirmed that this was due to laziness rather than to a loss of faith. In his late seventies, Stravinsky said:I cannot now evaluate the events that, at the end of those thirty years, made me discover the necessity of religious belief. I was not reasoned into my disposition. Though I admire the structured thought of theology ( Anselm's proof in the '' Fides Quaerens Intellectum'', for instance) it is to religion no more than counterpoint exercises are to music. I do not believe in bridges of reason or, indeed, in any form of extrapolation in religious matters. ... I can say, however, that for some years before my actual "conversion", a mood of acceptance had been cultivated in me by a reading of the Gospels and by other religious literature.
Reception
If Stravinsky's stated intention was "to send them all to hell", then he may have regarded the 1913 premiere of ''The Rite'' ''of Spring'' as a success: it resulted in one of history's most famous classical music riots, and Stravinsky referred to it on several occasions in his autobiography as a '. There were reports of fistfights in the audience and the need for a police presence during the second act. The real extent of the tumult is open to debate and the reports may be apocryphal.
In 1998, ''Time'' magazine named Stravinsky as one of the 100 most influential people of the century. In addition to the recognition he received for his compositions, he achieved fame as a pianist and a conductor, often at the premieres of his works. In 1923, Erik Satie wrote an article about Igor Stravinsky in '' Vanity Fair''. Satie had met Stravinsky for the first time in 1910. In the published article, Satie argued that measuring the "greatness" of an artist by comparing him to other artists, as if speaking about some "truth", is illusory and that every piece of music should be judged on its own merits and not by comparing it to the standards of other composers. That was exactly what Cocteau did when he commented deprecatingly on Stravinsky in his 1918 book, .
According to ''The Musical Times
''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country.
It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...
'' in 1923:
All the signs indicate a strong reaction against the nightmare of noise and eccentricity that was one of the legacies of the war.... What (for example) has become of the works that made up the program of the Stravinsky concert which created such a stir a few years ago? Practically the whole lot are already on the shelf, and they will remain there until a few jaded neurotics once more feel a desire to eat ashes and fill their belly with the east wind.
In 1935, the American composer Marc Blitzstein compared Stravinsky to Jacopo Peri
Jacopo Peri (20 August 156112 August 1633), known under the pseudonym Il Zazzerino, was an Italian composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, and is often called the inventor of opera. He wrote th ...
and C.P.E. Bach, conceding that, "there is no denying the greatness of Stravinsky. It is just that he is not great enough." Blitzstein's Marxist position was that Stravinsky's wish to "divorce music from other streams of life", which is "symptomatic of an escape from reality", resulted in a "loss of stamina", naming specifically ''Apollo'', the Capriccio, and ''Le Baiser de la fée
''Le Baiser de la fée'' (''The Fairy's Kiss'') is a neoclassical ballet in one act and four scenes composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1928 and revised in 1950 for George Balanchine and the New York City Ballet. Based on Hans Christian Andersen's s ...
''.
The composer Constant Lambert
Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...
described pieces such as ''L'Histoire du soldat'' as containing "essentially cold-blooded abstraction". Lambert continued, "melodic fragments in are completely meaningless themselves. They are merely successions of notes that can conveniently be divided into groups of three, five, and seven and set against other mathematical groups" and he described the cadenza for solo drums as "musical purity ... achieved by a species of musical castration". He compared Stravinsky's choice of "the drabbest and least significant phrases" to Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...
's 'Everyday they were gay there, they were regularly gay there everyday' ("Helen Furr and Georgine Skeene", 1922), "whose effect would be equally appreciated by someone with no knowledge of English whatsoever".
In his 1949 book ''Philosophy of Modern Music'', Theodor W. Adorno
Theodor W. Adorno ( , ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, sociologist, psychologist, musicologist, and composer.
He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of criti ...
described Stravinsky as an acrobat and spoke of hebephrenic
Disorganized schizophrenia, or hebephrenia, was a subtype of schizophrenia prior to 2013. Subtypes of schizophrenia were no longer recognized as separate conditions in the '' DSM 5'', published in 2013. The disorder is no longer listed in the 11t ...
and psychotic traits in several of Stravinsky's works. Contrary to a common misconception, Adorno didn't believe the hebephrenic and psychotic imitations that the music was supposed to contain were its main fault, as he pointed out in a postscript that he added later to his book. Adorno's criticism of Stravinsky is more concerned with the "transition to positivity" Adorno found in his neoclassical works. Part of the composer's error, in Adorno's view, was his neoclassicism, but of greater importance was his music's "pseudomorphism of painting", playing off (time-space) rather than (time-duration) of Henri Bergson. According to Adorno, "one trick characterizes all of Stravinsky's formal endeavors: the effort of his music to portray time as in a circus tableau and to present time complexes as though they were spatial. This trick, however, soon exhausts itself." Adorno maintained that the "rhythmic procedures closely resemble the schema of catatonic conditions. In certain schizophrenics, the process by which the motor apparatus becomes independent leads to infinite repetition of gestures or words, following the decay of the ego."
Stravinsky's reputation in Russia and the USSR rose and fell. Performances of his music were banned from around 1933 until 1962, the year Khrushchev invited him to the USSR for an official state visit. In 1972, an official proclamation by the Soviet Minister of Culture, Yekaterina Furtseva
Yekaterina Alexeyevna Furtseva (russian: Екатерина Алексеевна Фурцева; 7 December 1910 – 24 October 1974) was a Soviet politician and the second woman to be admitted as secretary of the Central Committee of the Comm ...
, ordered Soviet musicians to "study and admire" Stravinsky's music and she made hostility toward it a potential offence.
While Stravinsky's music has been criticized for its range of styles, scholars had "gradually begun to perceive unifying elements in Stravinsky's music" by the 1980s. Earlier writers, such as Copland, Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...
, and Boris de Schloezer
Boris may refer to:
People
* Boris (given name), a male given name
*:''See'': List of people with given name Boris
* Boris (surname)
* Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his d ...
held somewhat unfavorable views of Stravinsky's works, and Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclass ...
, writing in ''Modern Music'' (a quarterly review published between 1925 and 1946), could find only a common "'seriousness' of 'tone' or of 'purpose', 'the exact correlation between the goal and the means', or a dry 'ant-like neatness'".
Honours
In 1910, Florent Schmitt
Florent Schmitt (; 28 September 187017 August 1958) was a French composer. He was part of the group known as Les Apaches. His most famous pieces are ''La tragédie de Salome'' and ''Psaume XLVII'' (Psalm 47). He has been described as "one of th ...
dedicated the revised version of his ballet ''La tragédie de Salomé'', Op. 50, to Stravinsky.
In 1915, Claude Debussy dedicated the third movement of his ''En blanc et noir
''En blanc et noir'' (; en, "In White and Black"), L. 134, CD. 142, is a suite in three movements for two pianos by Claude Debussy, written in June 1915. He composed the work on the Normandy coast, suffering from cancer and concerned about the in ...
'' for two pianos to Stravinsky.
In 1977, "Sacrificial Dance" from ''The Rite of Spring'' was included among many tracks around the world on the Voyager Golden Record
The Voyager Golden Records are two phonograph records that were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. The records contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for ...
.
In 1982, Stravinsky was featured on a 2¢ postage stamp by the United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
as part of its Great Americans stamp series.
Awards
* 1954: Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...
Gold Medal
* 1959: Léonie Sonning Music Prize
The Léonie Sonning Music Prize, or Sonning Award, which is recognized as Denmark's highest musical honor, is given annually to an international composer or musician. It was first awarded in 1959 to composer Igor Stravinsky. Laureates are now s ...
* 1963: Wihuri Sibelius Prize
The Wihuri Sibelius Prize is a music prize awarded by the Wihuri Foundation for International Prizes to prominent composers who have become internationally known and acknowledged. The Wihuri Sibelius Prize is one of the biggest and most prestig ...
* Grammy Awards
** 1962: Best Classical Composition by Contemporary Composer ('' The Flood'')
** 1962: Best Classical Performance – Orchestra (''The Firebird
''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...
'', Igor Stravinsky conducting Columbia Symphony Orchestra
The Columbia Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra formed by Columbia Records strictly for the purpose of making recordings. In the 1950s, it provided a vehicle for some of Columbia's better known conductors and recording artists to record using o ...
)
** 1962: Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist (with orchestra) ( Violin Concerto in D, Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist.
Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...
; Igor Stravinsky conducting Columbia Symphony Orchestra)
** 1987: Lifetime Achievement
Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions.
Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include:
A
* A.C. ...
(posthumous)
Orders
* Commander of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword
The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword ( pt, Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada) is a Portuguese order of chivalry. Its full name is the Ancient, Most Noble and Enlightened Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, of the Scientif ...
, Portugal (25 July 1966)
Recordings and publications
Igor Stravinsky found recordings a practical and useful tool in preserving his thoughts on the interpretation of his music. As a conductor of his own music, he recorded primarily for Columbia Records, beginning in 1928 with a performance of the original suite from ''The Firebird'' and concluding in 1967 with the 1945 suite from the same ballet. In the late 1940s he made several recordings for RCA Victor at the Republic Studios
Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...
in Los Angeles. Although most of his recordings were made with studio musicians, he also worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...
, the CBC Symphony Orchestra
The CBC Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de la SRC; CBCSO/OSSRC) was a radio orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the 1950s and 1960s.
History
The CBCSO was f ...
, the New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bavarian Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra.
During his lifetime, Stravinsky appeared on several telecasts, including the 1962 world premiere of ''The Flood'' on CBS Television. Although he made an appearance, the actual performance was conducted by Robert Craft. Numerous films and videos of the composer have been preserved.
Stravinsky published a number of books throughout his career, almost always with the aid of a (sometimes uncredited) collaborator. In his 1936 autobiography, ''Chronicle of My Life'', which was written with the help of Walter Nouvel
Walter Feodorovich Nouvel (russian: Вальтер Федорович Нувель) (1871–1949) was a Russian émigré art-lover and writer. He co-wrote with Arnold Haskell a biography of Sergei Pavlovitch Diaghilev (''Diaghileff. His Artisti ...
, Stravinsky included his well-known statement that "music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all." With Alexis Roland-Manuel
Alexis Roland-Manuel (22 March 18911 November 1966) was a French composer and critic, remembered mainly for his criticism.
Biography
He was born Roland Alexis Manuel Lévy in Paris, to a family of Belgian and Jewish origins. He studied composi ...
and Pierre Souvtchinsky, he wrote his 1939–40 Harvard University Charles Eliot Norton Lectures, which were delivered in French and first collected under the title in 1942 and then translated in 1947 as ''Poetics of Music''.[The names of uncredited collaborators are given in .] In 1959, several interviews between the composer and Robert Craft were published as ''Conversations with Igor Stravinsky'', which was followed by a further five volumes over the following decade. A collection of Stravinsky's writings and interviews appears under the title ''Confidences sur la musique'' (Actes Sud, 2013).
Selected writings
Books
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*
* Reprinted Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980. .
* . Reprinted 1981, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. The 2002 reprinted "One-Volume Edition" varies from the 1960 original, London: Faber and Faber. .
* . Originally published in French as ''Chroniques de ma vie'', 2 vols. (Paris: Denoël et Steele, 1935), subsequently translated (anonymously) as ''Chronicle of My Life''. London: Gollancz, 1936. . This edition reprinted as ''Igor Stravinsky – An Autobiography'', with a preface by Eric Walter White (London: Calder and Boyars, 1975) . Reprinted again as ''An Autobiography (1903–1934)'' (London: Boyars, 1990) . Also published as ''Igor Stravinsky – An Autobiography'' (New York: M. & J. Steuer, 1958).
* Reprinted, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1981. .
* The 1968 reprinted ''Dialogues'' varies from the 1963 original, London: Faber and Faber. .
*
*
* A one-volume edition of ''Themes and Episodes'' (1966) and ''Retrospectives and Conclusions'' (1969) as revised by Igor Stravinsky in 1971. .
Articles (Source:)
* A
DICTECO
* A
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* A
DICTECO
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* A
DICTECO
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DICTECO
* Translated in English, 1936, as ''An Autobiography''.
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References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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''The New York Times''. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
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Further reading
* Anonymous. 1940. "Musical Count". ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' (Monday, 11 March).
* Anonymous. 1944.
Stravinsky Liable to Fine
. ''The New York Times'' (16 January) (Retrieved 22 June 2010).
* Anonymous. 1957. "Stravinsky Turns 75". ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' (3 June)
Reprinted in ''Los Angeles Times'' "Daily Mirror" blog (3 June 2007)
(accessed 9 March 2010).
* Anonymous. 1962.
Life Guide: Salutes to Stravinsky on His 80th; A Funny Faulkner, Farm Tours
, ''Life Magazine'' (8 June): 17.
* Berry, David Carson. 2008.
The Roles of Invariance and Analogy in the Linear Design of Stravinsky's
'Musick to Heare.'" ''Gamut: The Journal of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic'' 1, no. 1.
* Cocteau, Jean. 1918. ''Le Coq et l'arlequin: notes de la musique''. Paris: Éditions de la Sirène. Reprinted 1979, with a preface by Georges Auric. Paris: Stock. English edition, as ''Cock and Harlequin: Notes Concerning Music'', translated by Rollo H. Myers, London: Egoist Press, 1921.
* Cohen, Allen. 2004.
Howard Hanson in Theory and Practice
'. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. .
* Craft, Robert. 1994. ''Stravinsky: Chronicle of a Friendship'', revised and expanded edition. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. .
* Cross, Jonathan. 1999.
The Stravinsky Legacy
'. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. .
* Floirat, Anetta. 2016
"The Scythian element of the Russian primitivism, in music and visual arts. Based on the work of three painters (Goncharova, Malevich and Roerich) and two composers (Stravinsky and Prokofiev")
* Floirat, Anetta. 2019
""Marc Chagall (1887–1985) and Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), a painter and a composer facing similar twentieth-century challenges, a parallel. [revised version]"
Academia.edu.
* Goubault, Christian. 1991. ''Igor Stravinsky''. Editions Champion, Musichamp l’essentiel 5, Paris 1991 (with catalogue raisonné and calendar).
* Hazlewood, Charles. 20 December 2003. "Stravinsky – ''The Firebird Suite''"
Audio
''Discovering Music'', BBC Radio 3. Archived a
Discovering Music: Listening Library
Programmes
* Joseph, Charles M. 2002.
Stravinsky and Balanchine, A Journey of Invention
'. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. .
* Kohl, Jerome. 1979–80. "Exposition in Stravinsky's Orchestral Variations". '' Perspectives of New Music'' 18, nos. 1 and 2 (Fall-Winter/Spring Summer): 391–405. (subscription access).
* Kirchmeyer, Helmut. 2002.
Annotated Catalog of Works and Work Editions of Igor Strawinsky till 1971 – Verzeichnis der Werke und Werkausgaben Igor Strawinskys bis 1971
', Leipzig: Publications of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig. Extended edition available online since 2015, in English and German.
* Kirchmeyer, Helmut. 1958. ''Igor Strawinsky. Zeitgeschichte im Persönlichkeitsbild''. Regensburg: Bosse-Verlag.
* Kundera, Milan. 1995. ''Testaments Betrayed: An Essay in Nine Parts'', translated by Linda Asher. New York: HarperCollins. .
* Lehrer, Jonah. 2007. "Igor Stravinsky and the Source of Music", in his ''Proust Was a Neuroscientist''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. .
* Libman, Lillian. 1972. ''And Music at the Close: Stravinsky's Last Years''. New York: W. W. Norton
* Locanto, Massimiliano (ed.) 2014. ''Igor Stravinsky: Sounds and Gestures of Modernity.'' Salerno: Brepols.
* McFarland, Mark. 2011. "Igor Stravinsky." In
Oxford Bibliographies Online: Music
'', edited by Bruce Gustavson. New York: Oxford University Press.
* Page, Tim. 30 July 2006. "Classical Music: Great Composers, a Less-Than-Great Poser and an Operatic Impresario". ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' p. BW13.
* Robinson, Lisa. 2004. "Opera Double Bill Offers Insight into Stravinsky's Evolution". ''The Juilliard Journal Online'' 19, no. 7 (April). (No longer accessible as of March 2008.)
* Schaeffner, André. 1931. ''Strawinsky''. Paris: Edition Rieder.
* Siegmeister, Elie (ed.). 1943. ''The Music Lover's Handbook''. New York: William Morrow and Company.
* Slim, H. Colin. 2006. "Stravinsky's Four Star-Spangled Banners and His 1941 Christmas Card". ''The Musical Quarterly
''The Musical Quarterly'' is the oldest academic journal on music in America. Originally established in 1915 by Oscar Sonneck, the journal was edited by Sonneck until his death in 1928. Sonneck was succeeded by a number of editors, including Ca ...
'' 89, nos. 2 and 3 (Summer–Fall): 321–447.
* Slonimsky, Nicolas
Nicolas Slonimsky ( – December 25, 1995), born Nikolai Leonidovich Slonimskiy (russian: Никола́й Леони́дович Сло́нимский), was a Russian-born American conductor, author, pianist, composer and lexicographer. B ...
. 1953. ''Lexicon of Musical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers Since Beethoven's Time''. New York: Coleman-Ross. Second edition, New York: Coleman-Ross, 1965, reprinted Washington Paperbacks WP-52, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1969, reprinted again Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1974 , and New York: Norton, 2000 (pbk).
* Stravinsky, Igor. 1982–85. ''Stravinsky: Selected Correspondence'', 3 volumes, edited by Robert Craft
Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books.
...
. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. (vol. 1), (vol. 2), (vol. 3).
* Tappolet, Claude. 1990. ''Correspondence Ansermet-Strawinsky (1914–1967)''. Edition complète, 3 Volumes, Georg Edition, Genf.
* van den Toorn, Pieter C. 1987.
Stravinsky and the Rite of Spring: The Beginnings of a Musical Language
'. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Oxford: University of California Press.
* Vlad, Roman. 1958, 1973, 1983. ''Strawinsky''. Turin: Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi.
* Vlad, Roman. 1960, 1967. ''Stravinsky''. London and New York: Oxford University Press,.
* Wallace, Helen. 2007. ''Boosey & Hawkes, The Publishing Story''. London: Boosey & Hawkes. .
* Walsh, Stephen. 2007. "The Composer, the Antiquarian and the Go-between: Stravinsky and the Rosenthals". ''The Musical Times
''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country.
It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...
'' 148, no. 1898 (Spring): 19–34.
External links
*
The Stravinsky Foundation
website
*
*
" 'Jews and Geniuses': An Exchange"
between Richard Taruskin
Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...
and Robert Craft
Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books.
...
, ''The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'', 15 June 1989, on Stravinsky being a Jew or not and about his anti-Semitism. See als
another exchange
between Niel Glixon and Craft, 27 April 1989; and th
original review
(16 February 1989) by Robert Craft of John Rockwell
John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to '' Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ...
's article "Reactionary Musical Modernists" (9 September 1988) in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''.
* The Ekstrom Collection of the Diaghilev and Stravinsky Foundation is held by th
Victoria and Albert Museum London, Department of Theatre and Performance
A full catalogue and details of access arrangements are availabl
here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stravinsky, Igor
1882 births
1971 deaths
20th-century American composers
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Burials at Isola di San Michele
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