Essay on Igor Stravinsky - 1200 Words

IGOR STRAVINSKY Igor Stravinsky is considered by many the greatest composer of the 20th Century. Several composers have made breakthroughs and great accomplishments in the past 100 years, but Stravinsky has dominated nearly every trend set. He was born near St. Petersburg, Russia in Oranienbaum, on June 17, 1882. He was born to a famous Russian bass opera singer, Fyodor Ignatyevich Stravinsky. Igor Stravinsky was third of a family of four boys. He grew up hearing his father practicing his opera and attending local ballets. He also started taking piano lessons when he was 9 years old and continued on with musical notation and composition instruction. All throughout his early life he studied music. However, although he had been brought†¦show more content†¦He was so impressed by Stravinskys promise as a composer that he invited him to join his small group of artistic assistants. For the rest of the 1909 season Diaghilev asked Stravinsky to compose various pieces of ballet music. Then, in 1910, Diaghilev commissioned Stravinsky to compose his new ballet, The Firebird. The result of his commission was the first real modern ballet. It set the example of the composer consulting both with the choreographer and the stage/costuming artist during the composition. amp;#9;For the next few years, Stravinsky and Diaghilev worked very closely together. Diaghilev wanted all of Stravinsky’s new works to be produced by his company. Stravinskys next two works for the ballet, Petrouchka (1910-11) and The Rite of Spring (1912-13) are perfectly crafted, powerful pieces, drawing on Stravinskys rhythmic and harmonic imagination. The most amazing part is that Stravinsky had not even reached middle age at the time he composed these pieces. The Rite of Spring created a violent reaction because no one had ever heard music that carried this much premature power. It was almost as though there was a sense of jealousy from his colleagues. The entire musical establishment criticized stravinsky, but he didn’t really seem to care. amp;#9;During World War I, Stravinsky lived in Switzerland. There he concentrated on smaller-scale chamber pieces, piano works, and songs. One of these, The Soldiers Tale,Show MoreRelatedIgor Stravinsky658 Words   |  3 PagesIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was born on June 17th, 1882 in Oranienbaum, Russia. He was one of four to his polish parents, Anna nà ©e Kholodovsky and Fyodor Stravinsky. Igor Stravinsky’s first exposer to music was from his father, who was a bass singer at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. His father helped him learn the love of music. His first musical education began at the age of nine with piano lessons, studying music theory, and attempting composition. By fifteen, he had mastered Mendelssohn’sRead More Igor Stravinsky Essay533 Words   |  3 PagesIgor Stravinsky In the passage by Igor Stravinsky, he uses not only comparison and contrast, but also language to convey his point of view about the conductors of the time and their extreme egotism. Stravinsky believes that conductors exploit the music for their own personal gain, so rather, he looks on them in a negative light. To show his aggravation and irritation, Stravinsky uses the rhetorical device of comparison and contrast to convey his opinion of conductors. He compares the greatRead MoreComposer, Igor Fyodorvich Stravinsky1413 Words   |  6 Pageseven then it only occurred several decades into the 19th century. Of all the neoclassical composers, Igor Fyodorvich Stravinsky is the one that is the most well known in the music world for his contributions to the creation of the style. 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His ballets were strongly nationalistic but contained rites of RussiaRead More Musical Modernism with Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg1894 Words   |  8 Pagesand it was not only made to please the listeners but carried meanings about life itself. With the modernist movement emotions other than love, anger and joy has started to be portrayed more securely and concisely. Composers like Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg are very well known supporters of the Modern era with the pieces they composed. Claude Debussy, the composer who was considered by many as the dominant figure of the translation from Romantic era to Modern era, born inRead MoreEssay on Petrouchka693 Words   |  3 Pages Throughout the ballet music plays a vital role in expressing the mood and aura of the scenes. The original composer Igor Stravinsky, was one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century. The music in Petrouchka is modern. It uses the music of the past, folk tunes and popular songs, but departs form the simplicity of these tunes. Stravinsky artistically keeps the listener off-balance by frequent meter changes and unpredictable accents. Music of the classical is smoothRead MoreNeoclassicism Vs. Modernism Essay1174 Words   |  5 Pages Igor Stravinsky makes for a first-class example of differences and similarities between neoclassicism and modernism. Modernism is defined as â€Å"A term used in music to denote a multi-faceted but distinct and continuous tradition within 20th-century composition†1, while neoclassicism may be defined as â€Å"A movement of style in the works of certain 20th-century composers, who, particularly during the period betwe en the two world wars, revived the balanced forms and clearly perceptible thematic processesRead MoreThe Rite of Spring Essay955 Words   |  4 Pagestranslates from Russian to French is; Le Sacre du Printemps, meaning the rite of spring, but the literal translation from Russian to English means â€Å"Sacred Spring†. The ballet and music were composed by Igor Stravinsky, with the help of Nicholas Roerich, who proposed the general idea behind the ballet to Stravinsky. Roerich wanted to put into motion the ideas behind pagan pre-Christian rituals in Russia. Together the two created the story line behind the ballet; a sacred pagan ritual where a young female