Finally available, a high quality book of the original classic edition of An Autobiography. This is a new and freshly published edition of this culturally important work by Igor Stravinsky, which is now, at last, again available to you.
Enjoy this classic work today. These selected paragraphs distill the contents and give you a quick look inside An Autobiography:
When I got
Finally available, a high quality book of the original classic edition of An Autobiography. This is a new and freshly published edition of this culturally important work by Igor Stravinsky, which is now, at last, again available to you.
Enjoy this classic work today. These selected paragraphs distill the contents and give you a quick look inside An Autobiography:
When I got into touch with some of the members of this group, its transformation into a new school had already been accomplished, so that I found myself confronted by an academy whose aesthetics and dogmas were well established, and had to be accepted or rejected as a whole.
...He told me that before anything else I must continue my studies in harmony and counterpoint with one or other of his pupils in order to acquire complete mastery in the schooling of craftsmanship, but at the same time he strongly advised me not to enter the Conservatoire.
...Although in my ingenuousness I was somewhat downcast over the lack of enthusiasm that the master had shown for my first attempts at composition, I found some comfort in the fact that he had nevertheless advised me to continue my studies, and so demonstrated his opinion that I had sufficient ability to devote myself to a musical career.
...Indeed, every doctrine of aesthetics, when put into practice, demands a particular mode of expression-in fact, a technique of its own; for, in art, such a thing as technique founded on no given basis-in short, a technique in the void-would be utterly inconceivable; and it would be still more difficult to imagine when a whole group, or school, is under consideration.
...It was at this point that I began the close relations with Diaghileff which lasted for twenty years, right up to his death, and developed into a deep friendship based on a reciprocal affection that was proof against the difference of views or tastes which could not but arise from time to time in such a long period.
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Stravinsky wrote this short book to air his views on his development as a composer and the performance of his music. The book ends in the late 1920’s, so the second half of his life is not discussed. In a light hearted manner Stravinsky puts forth some grievances and heaps praise on patrons and friends who helped him along the way. His pet peeve was that conductors should play his music, not interpret it (to this end he recorded his music on vinyl, but to his dismay most conductors ignored the r
Stravinsky wrote this short book to air his views on his development as a composer and the performance of his music. The book ends in the late 1920’s, so the second half of his life is not discussed. In a light hearted manner Stravinsky puts forth some grievances and heaps praise on patrons and friends who helped him along the way. His pet peeve was that conductors should play his music, not interpret it (to this end he recorded his music on vinyl, but to his dismay most conductors ignored the recordings to do their own thing). He also disliked reading anything into musical compositions, and disliked the whole circus of interpretations around composers like Beethoven, just listen to it! He details his cooperation with Ballet impresario Diaghilev and dancer/choreographer Nijinsky, who staged the premiere of his Sacre and many of his later ballets and has anecdotes about his contemporary composers and artists (like Pablo Picasso who took him out in Napoli and painted his portrait). His writing is very informative, detailing the process of matching the dance choreography, and stag décor and costumes to the music, and shows how international the music scene was with performances all over Europe and the USA.
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Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music.
He was a quintessentially cosmopolitan Russian who was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the century. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1946. In addition to the recognition he receive
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music.
He was a quintessentially cosmopolitan Russian who was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the century. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1946. In addition to the recognition he received for his compositions, he also achieved fame as a pianist and a conductor, often at the premieres of his works.
He also published a number of books throughout his career, almost always with the aid of a collaborator, sometimes uncredited. In his 1936 autobiography, Chronicles of My Life, written with the help of Walter Nouvel, Stravinsky included his infamous statement that "music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all."
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