Stravinsky, Igor Fedorovich 1882-1971

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STRAVINSKY, Igor Fedorovich 1882-1971

PERSONAL: Surname listed in some sources as Stravinski or Strawinsky; born June 17, 1882, in Oranienbaum, Russia; immigrated to France, 1920; naturalized French citizen, June 10, 1934; came toUnited States, September 30, 1939; naturalized U.S. citizen, December 28, 1945; died of heart failure, April 6, 1971, in New York, NY; buried in Cemetery of San Michele, in Venice, Italy; son of Fedor Ignatievich (an opera singer) and Anna Stravinsky; married Catherine Gabrielle Nossenko, January 11, 1906 (died March, 1939); married Vera Arturovna de Bosset Sudekine (an actress and dancer), March 9, 1940; children: (first marriage) Theodore, Ludmilla (deceased), Soulima (born Sviatoslav), Maria Milena. Education: University of St. Petersburg, degree in law, 1905; studied music with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Religion: Russian Orthodox. Hobbies and other interests: Painting, art, book collecting, literature.

CAREER: Music composer, 1903-66; guest conductor of orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony orchestras, 1914-66; and piano soloist, 1924-66. Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University, 1939-40.

MEMBER: American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Institute of Arts and Letters.

AWARDS, HONORS: Gold medal for music from National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1951; gold medal of the Royal Philharmonic (London, England), 1954; Sibelius Gold Medal, 1955; International award, Sonning Foundation of Denmark, 1960; Sibelius Prize from Wihuri International Prize Foundation, 1963.

WRITINGS:

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, EXCEPT AS NOTED

(With Walter Nouvel) Chroniques de ma vie, two volumes, Denoel et Steele, 1935, published as Igor Stravinsky: An Autobiography, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1936, published as Chronicle of My Life, Gollancz (London, England), 1936.

(With Roland-Manuel) Poetique musicale sous forme de six lecons (lectures), Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1942, translation by Arthur Knodel and Ingolf Dahl published as Poetics of Music in the Form of Six Lessons, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1947, bilingual edition, preface by George Seferis, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1970.

(With Robert Craft) Avec Stravinsky, [Monaco], 1958, published as Conversations with Igor Stravinsky, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1959, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1980.

(With Robert Craft) Memories and Commentaries, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1960.

(With Robert Craft) Expositions and Developments, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1962.

(With Robert Craft) Dialogues and a Diary, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1963.

(With Robert Craft) Themes and Episodes, Knopf (New York, NY), 1966.

(With Robert Craft) Retrospectives and Conclusions, Knopf (New York, NY), 1969.

Stravinsky: Selected Correspondence, edited by Robert Craft, Knopf (New York, NY), 1982.

OMNIBUS VOLUMES; WITH ROBERT CRAFT

Stravinsky in Conversation with Robert Craft (contains Conversations with Stravinsky and Memories and Commentaries), Harmondsworth (London, England), 1962.

Themes and Conclusions (contains Themes and Episodes and Retrospectives and Conclusions), Faber (London, England), 1972.

MUSICAL WORKS; BALLETS

L'Oiseau de feu, completed May 18, 1910 (one-act; title means "The Firebird"; adapted from Russian folklore; first performed in Paris, France, at Paris Opera, June 25, 1910; performed in New York, NY, March 20, 1935), Jurgenson-Schott, 1910, B. Schott (Mainz, Germany), 1973.

(And author of text, with Alexandre Benois) Petrouchka, completed May 26, 1911 (four-act; title means "Peter"; adapted from Russian folklore; first performed in Paris, France, at Theatre du Chatelet, June 13, 1911; performed in New York, NY, at Century Theatre, January 25, 1916 [some sources say January 24]), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1911, Norton, 1967, revised score, completed, 1947, edited by Charles Hamm, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1948.

(And author of text, with Nicholas Roerich) Le Sacre du printemps: Choreographic Scenes of Pagan Russia, completed March 8, 1913 (two-act; title means "The Rite of Spring"; first produced in Paris, France, at Theatre des Champs-Elysees, May 29, 1913; produced in concert in Philadelphia, PA, at Academy of Music, March 3, 1922; produced in concert in New York, NY, at Carnegie Hall, January 24, 1924), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1913, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1921, revised score completed, 1943, Associated Music Publishers, 1945, facsimile edition with commentary by Robert Craft, 1969.

(And author of text) Le Renard, completed August 1, 1916 (one-act; title means "The Fox"; adapted from Russian folklore; first produced in Paris, France, at Paris Opera, May 18, 1922), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1917, bilingual edition with translations of text by Rollo M. Meyers and C. F. Ramuz, J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1930.

Le Chant du rossignol, completed April 4, 1917 (threeact; title means "The Song of the Nightingale"; adapted from last two acts of composer's opera "Le Rossignol" [also see below]; first produced in concert in Geneva, Switzerland, December 6, 1919; produced in Paris, France, at Paris Opera, February 2, 1920; produced in New York, NY, at Carnegie Hall, November 2, 1923), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1921.

L'Histoire du soldat, completed, 1918 (six-act; title means "The Soldier's Tale"; adapted from Russian folklore; first produced in Lausanne, Switzerland, at Theatre Municipal de Lausanne, September 28, 1918; produced in New York, NY, at Jolson Theatre, March 25, 1928), text by Charles-Fernandez Ramuz, J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1924, translation by Michael Flanders and Kitty Black, J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1955.

Pulcinella: Ballet with Voice and Orchestra on Themes, Fragments, and Pieces by Pergolesi, completed April 20, 1919 (one-act; adapted from music by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi; first produced in Paris, France, at Paris Opera, May 15, 1920; produced in Chicago, IL, 1933), vocal score with libretto by Leonide Massine published by J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1919, full score published by Edition Russe.

(And author of text) Les Noces, completed April 6, 1923 (four-act; title means "The Wedding"; adapted from Kirieievsky's collection of Russian folk poems; first produced in Paris, France, at Theatre de la Gaite-Lyrique, June 13, 1923; produced in New York, NY, at Metropolitan Opera, April 25, 1929), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1923, with translation of libretto by D. Millar Craig, J. & W. Chester (London, England), c. 1957.

(And author of text) Apollon-Musagete, completed January, 1928 (two-act; title means "Apollo, Master of the Muses"; first produced in Washington, D.C., at Library of Congress, April 27, 1928), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1928, revised score published as Apollo, completed, 1947, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1949.

(And author of text) Le Baiser de la fee, completed October 30, 1928 (four-act; title means "The Fairy's Kiss"; adapted from story "The Ice Maiden" by Hans Christian Andersen and from music by Petr Ilich Tchaikovsky; first produced in Paris at Paris Opera, November 27, 1928 [some sources say November 28]; produced in New York, NY, at Metropolitan Opera, April 27, 1937), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1928, revised score, completed, 1950, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1952.

Persephone, completed January 24, 1934 (three-act; first produced in Paris, France, at Paris Opera, April 30, 1934; produced in Boston, MA, March 15, 1935), text by Andre Gide, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1934, arrangement for opera, completed, 1949, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1950.

(And author of text) Jeu de cartes: Ballet in Three Deals, completed December 6, 1936 (three-act; title means "A Card Game"; first produced in New York, NY, at Metropolitan Opera, April 27, 1937), Schott Music, 1936, reprinted, 1965.

Orpheus, completed September 23, 1947 (three-act; first produced in New York, NY, at New York City Center, April 28, 1948), with translation of text by Robert A. Hague, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1948, published in Agon [and] Orpheus, Muzyka, 1972.

The Cage, (one-act), first produced in New York, NY, at New York City Center, June 10, 1951 (some sources say June 4).

Agon, completed April 27, 1957 (one-act; title means "Contest"; first produced in concert in New York, NY, at New York City Center, November 27, 1957), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1957, published in Agon [and] Orpheus, Muzyka, 1972.

The Flood; or, Noah and the Ark, completed March 14, 1962 (adapted from Genesis; first televised June 14, 1962), text by Robert Craft, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1963.

ORCHESTRAL COMPOSITIONS

Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major, completed, 1907 (first produced in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 27, 1907), Jurgenson-Schott, 1907.

Feu d'Artifice, completed, 1908 (first produced in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 17, 1908; produced in New York, NY, December 1, 1910), B. Schott (Mainz, Germany), 1908, published as Fireworks, International Music, 1948.

Scherzo fantastique, completed, 1908 (first produced in St. Petersburg, Russia, February 6, 1909), Jurgenson-Schott, 1908.

Le Sacre du printemps Suite (adapted from composer's ballet Le Sacre du printemps [also see above]; first produced in Paris, France, April 5, 1914), Kalmus, 1938, revised score, completed, 1943, Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1945.

Song of the Volga Boatmen for Wind Orchestra, completed, 1917 (adapted from a Russian folksong; first produced in Rome, Italy, April 9, 1917), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1920.

Ragtime for Eleven Instruments, completed November 11, 1918 (first produced in London, England, April 27, 1920), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1920.

Suite de L'Oiseau de feu, completed, 1919 (adapted from composer's ballet L'Oiseau de feu [also see above]), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1920, revised score published as The Firebird Symphonic Suite, completed, 1945, Leeds Music, 1947.

Symphonies d'instruments a vent: To the Memory of Debussy, completed, 1920 (title means "Symphonies of Wind Instruments"; first produced in London, England, June 10, 1921), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1920, revised score completed, 1947, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1952.

Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, completed, 1929 (first produced in Paris, France, December 6, 1929), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1929, revised score completed, 1949, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1952.

Four Etudes for Orchestra, completed, 1930 (adapted from composer's Three Pieces for String Quartet and Etude for Pianola [see below]; first produced in Berlin, Germany, November 7, 1930), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1930, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England).

(With Sam Dushkin) Divertimento for Orchestra, completed, 1934 (adapted from composer's ballet Le Baiser de la fee [also see above]), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1934, revised score, completed, 1949, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1950.

Preludium for Jazz Band, completed, 1937, revised version, completed, 1953, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1968.

Symphonie en ut, completed August 19, 1940 (title means "Symphony in C"; first produced in Chicago, IL, November 7, 1940), Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1940.

Circus Polka for Orchestra or Piano, completed February 15, 1942 (first produced in Boston, MA, January 13, 1944), Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1944, arrangement for band, Associated Music Publishers, 1948.

Norwegian Moods: Four Episodes for Orchestra, completed, 1942 (first produced in Cambridge, MA, January 13, 1944), Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1944.

Scherzo a la Russe for Jazz Orchestra, completed, 1944 (first produced in San Francisco, CA, March 22, 1946), Chappell (London, England), 1944, arrangement for jazz band with title Scherzo a la Russe for Jazz Band, first produced in radio concert, 1944, arrangement for two pianos, Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1945.

Scenes de ballet for Orchestra, completed, 1944 (first produced as part of musical revue The Seven Lively Arts in New York, NY, December 7, 1944; produced in concert in New York, NY, in Carnegie Hall, February 3, 1945), Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1945.

Symphony in Three Movements, completed, 1945 (first produced in New York, NY, January 24, 1946), B. Schott (Mainz, Germany), 1945, Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1946.

Greeting Prelude, completed, 1955 (adapted from song Happy Birthday to You by C. F. Summy), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1956.

Movements for Piano and Orchestra, completed, 1959 (first produced in New York, NY, January 10, 1960), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1960.

Variations: Aldous Huxley in Memoriam, completed, October 28, 1964 (first produced in Chicago, IL, April 17, 1965), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1965.

Canon on a Russian Popular Tune, completed, 1965 (adapted from finale of composer's ballet L'Oiseau de feu), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1966.

RELIGIOUS COMPOSITIONS

Le Roi des etoiles: Cantata for Chorus and Orchestra, completed, 1911 (title means "The King of the Stars"; first produced in Brussels, Belgium, at Institut Nationale de Radio-diffusion Belge, April 19, 1939), text by Konstantin Balmont, Jurgenson, 1911, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1952.

Symphonie de Psaumes for Chorus and Orchestra, completed August 15, 1930 (title means "Symphony of Psalms"; first produced in Brussels at Palais des Beaux Arts, December 13, 1930; produced in Boston, MA, December 19, 1931), vocal score published by Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1930, full score, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1932, revised score, completed, 1948, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1948.

Pater Noster for Unaccompanied Chorus, completed, 1926, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1932, revised score with Latin text, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1949.

Credo for Unaccompanied Chorus, completed, 1932, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1933, revised score with Latin text, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1947, second revised score with Slavic text, completed March, 1964.

The Tower of Babel: Cantata for Reciter, Male Chorus, and Orchestra, completed April 12, 1944 (adapted from Book of Moses; first produced in Los Angeles, CA, at Wilshire Ebell Theatre, November 18, 1945), [Hollywood, CA], 1944, Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1953.

Mass in C for Mixed Chorus and Double Woodwind Quintet, completed March 15, 1948 (first produced in Milan, Italy, at Teatro alla Scala, October 27, 1948), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1948.

Cantata on Four Poems by Anonymous English Poets of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, completed August, 1952 (first produced in Los Angeles, CA, November 11, 1952), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1952.

Canticum sacrum ad honorem Sancti Marci nominis, completed, 1955 (first produced in Venice, Italy, at St. Mark's Cathedral, September 13, 1956), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1956.

Threni; id est, Lamentationes Jeremiae prophetae, completed March 21, 1958 (first produced in Venice at International Festival of Contemporary Music, September 23, 1958), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1958.

A Sermon, a Narrative, and a Prayer, completed January 31, 1962 (triptych adapted from texts from Saint Paul, the Acts of the Apostles, and a poem by Thomas Dekker; first produced in Basel, Switzerland, February 23, 1962), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1962.

Abraham and Isaac: A Sacred Ballad for Baritone and Chamber Orchestra, completed March 3, 1963 (first produced in Jerusalem, Israel, at Binyanei He' Ooma, August 23, 1964), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1965.

Requiem Canticles for Contralto and Bass Soli, Chorus, and Orchestra, completed, 1966 (first produced in Princeton, NJ, at Princeton University, October 8, 1966), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1967.

VOCAL COMPOSITIONS

Trois Petites Chansons: Souvenir de mon enfance for Voice and Piano, completed, c. 1906 (title means "Three Little Songs: Souvenirs of My Childhood"; contains The Magpie, The Rook, and The Jackdaw), revised score, completed November, 1913, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1913, arrangement for chamber orchestra, completed, 1930, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1934, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1947.

Le Faune et la bergere for Voice and Orchestra, completed, 1907 (title means "Faun and Shepherdess"; based on three poems by Aleksander Pushkin; contains The Shepherdess, The Faun, and The River; first produced in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 27, 1907), Belaieff, 1907, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1964.

Three Songs for Voice and Piano (contains Novice and Sainte Rosee, texts by S. Gorodetsky, and Pastorale), Jurgenson, 1908.

Chant funebre, completed June, 1908 (title means "Funeral Dirge"; first produced in St. Petersburg, Russia, autumn, 1908), manuscript lost.

Deux poems de Paul Verlaine, completed July, 1910 (title means "Two Songs of Paul Verlaine"; contains Un Grand Sommeil noir and La Lune blanche) Jurgenson, 1911, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1954, arrangement for chamber orchestra, completed, 1951, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1953.

Two Poems of Konstantin Balmont, completed, 1911 (contains The Flower and The Dove), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1912, revised version, completed, 1954, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1954.

Trois poesies de la lyrique japonaise for Voice and Small Instrumental Ensemble, completed, 1913 (title means "Three Poems from the Japanese"; contains Akahito, Mazatsumi, and Tsaraiuki; first produced in Paris, January 14, 1914), translation by A. Brandt, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1913, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England).

Berceuses du chat for Voice and Three Clarinets, completed, 1916 (title means "The Cat's Cradle Songs"), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1916, J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1917.

Chansons plaisants: Pribaoutki for Voice and Eight Instruments, completed, 1914 (title means "Pleasant Songs"), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1917.

Four a Cappella Choruses for Women's Voices, Chester-Schott, 1914-17.

Trois histories pour enfants, completed June 21, 1917 (title means "Three Stories for Children"; contains Tilimbom, Geese, Swans, and The Bear's Little Song), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1920, arrangement for orchestra, completed, 1923, B. Schott (Mainz, Germany), 1923.

Four Russian Songs for Voice and Piano, completed October 23, 1919 (contains The Counting Song, The Drake, Table-Mat Song, and Dissident Song), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1919.

Ode: Elegiac Song in Three Movements, completed June 25, 1943 (contains Eulogy, Ecologue, and Epitaph; first produced in Boston, MA, October 8, 1943 [some sources say October 1]), Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1943.

Russian Maiden's Song for Voice and Piano, lyrics by B. Kochno, translation by R. Burness, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1948.

Three Songs from William Shakespeare, completed autumn, 1953 (first produced in Los Angeles, CA, March 8, 1954), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1954.

In Memoriam: Dylan Thomas, completed March, 1954 (first produced in Los Angeles, CA, September 20, 1954), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1954.

Four Russian Songs for Soprano, Flute, Harp, and Guitar, completed, 1954 (contains Tilimbom and Geese, Swans [both adapted from composer's Trois Histoires pour enfants; also see above] and The Drake and A Russian Spiritual; or, Dissident Song [both adapted from composer's Four Russian Songs for Voice and Piano; also see above]; first produced in Los Angeles, February 21, 1955), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1954.

Anthem: The Dove Descending Breaks the Air, completed, 1962.

Elegy for J.F.K., completed March, 1964 (scored to a poem by W. H. Auden; first produced in Los Angeles, April 6, 1964), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1964.

Introitus: T. S. Eliot in Memoriam, completed, 1965.

The Owl and the Pussycat, completed, 1966, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1967.

Concertos: Concertino for String Quartet, completed September 24, 1920 (first produced in Salzburg, Austria, August 5, 1923), Wilhelm Hansen, 1923, arrangement for twelve instruments, completed, 1952 (first produced in Los Angeles, CA, November 11, 1952), Wilhelm Hansen (Leipzig, Germany, and Copenhagen, Denmark), 1953.

Concerto for Piano, Wind, Contrabasses, and Timpani, completed April, 1924 (first produced in Paris, France, May 22, 1924; produced in Boston, MA, January 23, 1925), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1924, arrangement for piano and orchestra, completed, 1936, Edition Russe (Paris, France), revised score, completed, 1950, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1950.

Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra, completed, 1931 (first produced in a radio concert in Berlin, Germany, October 23, 1931), Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1931, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1961.

(With S. Dushkin) Duo-Concertante for Violin and Piano, completed July 15, 1932 (first produced in a radio concert in Berlin, Germany, October 28, 1932), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1933, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England).

Concerto for Two Pianos, completed November 9, 1935 (some sources say September 1, 1935; first produced in Paris at Salle Gaveau, November 21, 1935), Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1936.

Concerto in E-flat major for Chamber Orchestra: Dumbarton Oaks Concerto, completed March 29, 1938 (first produced in Washington, DC, at Dumbarton Oaks estate, May 8, 1938), Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1938, arrangement for two pianos, Associated Music Publishers, 1938.

Concerto for Wind Orchestra: Ebony Concerto, completed December 1, 1945 (first produced in New York, NY, at Carnegie Hall, March 25, 1946), Charling Music, 1945, Edwin H. Morris (New York, NY), 1954.

Concerto for String Orchestra: Basle Concerto, completed August 8, 1946 (first produced in Basel, Switzerland, January 21, 1947), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1947, Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY), 1959.

OPERAS

(And author of libretto with Stephen N. Mitusoff) Le Rossignol, completed, 1914 (three-act; title means "The Nightingale"; adapted from story The Emperor and the Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen; first produced in Paris, France, at Paris Opera, May 26, 1914; produced in New York, NY, at Metropolitan Opera, March 6, 1926), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1914, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1947, revised score with translation of libretto by Robert Craft, Boosey & Hawkes, 1956.

Marva, completed, 1921 (one-act; adapted from verse story The Little House in Kolomna by Aleksander Pushkin; first produced in Paris, France, at Hotel Continental, May 29, 1922; first produced in United States in 1934), libretto by Boris Kochno, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1925, with translation of libretto by Robert Craft, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1956.

Oedipus Rex, completed May 10, 1927 (two-act; adapted from play with same title by Sophocles; first produced in concert in Paris, France, at Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, May 30, 1927; produced in concert in Boston, MA, February 24, 1928; produced in New York, NY, April 21, 1931), libretto by Jean Cocteau, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1928, revised score with translation of libretto by e. e. cummings, completed, 1948, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1949.

The Rake's Progress, completed, 1951 (three-act; first produced in Venice at Teatro La Fenice, September 11, 1951; produced in New York, NY, at Metropolitan Opera, February 14, 1953), libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1951.

CHAMBER MUSIC

Three Pieces for String Quartet, completed, 1914 (first produced in New York, NY, November 30, 1915), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1914, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1947.

Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo, J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1918.

Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra, completed, 1921 (adapted from composer's Trois pieces facile for Piano, Four Hands [also see below]), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1921.

Suite from Pulcinella, completed c. 1922 (adapted from composer's ballet Pulcinella [also see above]), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1924, revised version completed, 1949, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1949.

Octet for Wind Instruments, completed, 1923 (first produced in Paris, October 18, 1923, produced in New York, NY, at Aeolian Hall, January 25, 1925), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1923, revised version, completed, 1952, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1952.

Suite No. 1 for Small Orchestra, completed, 1925 (adapted from composer's Cinq pieces faciles for Piano, Four Hands [also see below]), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1925.

Danses Concertantes for Chamber Orchestra, completed January 13, 1942 (first produced in Los Angeles, CA, February 8, 1942), Associated Music Publishers, 1942.

Elegy for Viola (or Violin) Solo, completed, 1944, Chappell (London, England), 1945.

Septet for Piano, String, and Wind Instruments, completed, 1953 (first produced in Washington, DC, January 23, 1954), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1953.

Epitaphium for Prince Max of Furstenberg for Flute, Clarinet, and Harp, completed, 1959 (first produced in Donaueschingen, Germany, October 17, 1959), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1959.

Double Canon for String Quartet, completed, 1959, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1960.

Fanfare for a New Theatre for Trumpet Duet, completed, 1964, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1968.

PIANO COMPOSITIONS

Scherzo, completed, 1902, G. Schirmer (New York, NY), 1974.

Sonata in F-sharp minor, completed, 1904, edited by Eric Walter White, G. Schirmer (New York, NY), 1974.

Four Etudes for Piano, Jurgenson, 1908.

Valse des fleurs, completed August 30, 1914 (first produced in New York, NY, 1949), manuscript lost.

Trois pieces faciles for Piano, Four Hands, completed, 1915 (title means "Three Easy Pieces"), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1917, International Music Co. (New York, NY), 1970.

Cinq pieces faciles for Piano, Four Hands, completed, 1917 (title means "Five Easy Pieces"; contains Andante, Neapolitana, Espanola, Balaika, and Galop; first produced in Lausanne, Switzerland, November 8, 1919), Henn, 1917, J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1925.

Etude for Pianola: Madrid, completed, 1917 (first produced in London, England, at Aeolian Hall, October 13, 1921), Duo-Art-Aeolian, 1917, J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1920, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1951.

Piano-Rag-Music, completed June 28, 1919 (first produced in Lausanne, Switzerland, November 8, 1919), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1919.

Les Cinq Doigts: Little Piano Pieces for Children, completed February 18, 1921 (title means "The Five Fingers"), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1921, arrangement for small orchestra with title Eight Instrumental Miniatures, completed, 1962 (first produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at Massey Hall, April 29, 1962), J. & W. Chester (London, England), 1963.

Sonata for Piano, completed, 1924 (first produced in Donaueschingen, Germany, July, 1925), Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1924, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1925.

Serenade in A for Piano, completed autumn, 1925, Edition Russe (Paris, France), 1926, edited by Albert Spalding, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1947.

Tango for One or Two Pianos, completed, 1940, Mercury Music (New York, NY), 1940, arrangement for orchestra, completed, 1953 (first produced in Los Angeles, CA, October 19, 1953), Mercury Music, 1954.

Sonata for Two Pianos, completed, 1944 (first produced in Madison, WI, at Dominican Sisters, July, 1944), Associated Music Publishers (New York, NY, 1945.

SIDELIGHTS: Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky, whose innovative score for the ballet "Le Sacre du printemps" precipitated a riot at its first performance, has been appraised by many commentators as the most important composer of the twentieth century. Composer Claude Debussy, for example, once described Stravinsky as "the most marvelous orchestral craftsman of our time." But "Igor Stravinsky was more than an immensely great composer," wrote Peter Heyworth in Observer Review. "Like Beethoven and Wagner, he was one of those giants who stamp their creative image on a whole epoch."

The Russian-born son of an opera singer, Stravinsky was discouraged in his pursuit of a career in music by his parents, who insisted that he study law at the University of St. Petersburg. While on vacation from the university, Stravinsky met the celebrated composer and music educator Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who began giving the young law student private lessons in composition and orchestration. Though he earned a degree in law, Stravinsky never practiced that profession for he was determined to become a composer.

Performances of his early pieces, including "Scherzo fantastique" and "Feu d'artifice," were well-received, but it was his score for Sergei Diaghilev's production of "L'Oiseau de feu" ("The Firebird") in 1910 that established Stravinsky's reputation as a composer of genius. Based upon a Russian folktale, the ballet was written in the tradition of Rimsky-Korsakov, and the nationalist school of music, but it was strikingly original in its orchestral treatment. A dazzling success, "L'Oiseau de feu" inspired Diaghilev's prediction that Stravinsky was destined for fame.

Stravinsky's twenty-year association with Diaghilev's Russian Ballet resulted in a series of extraordinary ballet productions, including "Petrouschka" and "Le Sacre du printemps." Like "L'Oiseau de feu," "Petrouschka" was enthusiastically greeted. The imaginative ballet, which employs such innovations as irregular meter and bitonalism, a technique whereby music is played simultaneously in two different keys, is regarded by some critics as the composer's masterpiece. It was Stravinsky's next ballet, "Le Sacre du printemps," however, that became his best-known work.

Based upon a pagan rite involving the sacrifice of a young virgin to the god of spring, "Le Sacre" caused one of the most tumultuous scandals in musical history when it was first performed in 1913. The opening night audience was divided between those who believed the composition was great art and those who felt it destroyed the very foundations of music. A riot erupted during the performance. Stravinsky described the scene in his autobiography: "I left the auditorium at the first bars of the prelude, which had at once evoked derisive laughter. I was disgusted. These demonstrations, at first isolated, soon became general, provoking counter-demonstrations and very quickly developing into a terrific uproar." Composer Lazare Saminsky described Stravinsky as "the father of the rebarbarization in music," reported Saturday Review. "He has," continued Saminsky, "reduced melody to the primitive, inarticulate refrain of a Zulu and has converted the orchestra into a gigantic rattle, the toy and mouthpiece of the new savage."

Since its riotous first performance "Le Sacre du printemps" has become universally regarded as a masterpiece. Though it is seldom performed as a ballet, the work is often played as a symphonic poem and appears on the repertory of every major orchestra. The work remains unique, however, since Stravinsky, upon completing the revolutionary ballet, was already exploring other styles of musical expression.

Abandoning the neoprimitive movement that he had initiated with "Le Sacre du printemps," Stravinsky became a proponent of neoclassicism, composing works such as the ballet "Pulcinella," which was based upon music by the eighteenth-century composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Later works from Stravinsky's neoclassic period are the opera "Oedipus Rex" and the ballets "Apollon-Musagete," "Le Baiser de la fee," and "Orpheus." Though some critics view "Orpheus" as one of Stravinsky's most beautiful compositions, the composer's works from this period are generally regarded as inferior to his neoprimitive pieces.

Stravinsky also began writing smaller scale compositions for vocal and instrumental ensembles. These include his comic theatre pieces "Renard" and "Marva" and his chamber works "Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra" and "Octet for Wind Instruments," all composed between 1916 and 1923.

Though Stravinsky is best known for his compositions for the stage, he also wrote numerous influential works of "pure" music. Some of these, including "Symphonies of Wind Instruments," exhibit an impersonal, albeit masterful, style. Others, such as "Symphony of Psalms," reveal the composer's ability to write music that is both moving and brilliant. Stravinsky also transcribed musical works by such well-known composers as Johann Sebastian Bach, Petr Tchaikovsky, Frederic Chopin, and Modest Musorgski.

The composer published Stravinsky: An Autobiography in order, he said in his book, to "present to the reader a true picture of myself, and to dissipate the accumulation of misunderstandings that has gathered about both my work and my person." The volume was described by P. H. Lang in Saturday Review as a valuable contribution "to the understanding of the most original and most powerful musician of our era.... No one who is interested in the destiny of musical art should miss this thought-provoking book." Two years later Stravinsky was invited to deliver the Charles Eliot Norton lectures at Harvard University. His remarks, wrote A. V. Berger in Saturday Review, contain "a plea for 'order and discipline,' melody, the limitations imposed by form, and a sense of tradition separable from habit and the artistic conservatism advocated by the Soviets." The lectures were published as a collection of essays entitled Poetics of Music in the Form of Six Lessons.

In 1939, aware that his music was more admired in the United States than in France, where he had lived since World War I, Stravinsky decided to take up residence in California. There he continued to write the cool, controlled music that characterized his neoclassical period. Though Stravinsky was, according to a Time writer, "a fierce and uncompromising pioneer who quite literally revolutionized the music of his century, he was also as modishly conscious of musical fashions as Picasso was addicted to changing taste in art and sculpture." In 1952 Stravinsky once again shocked the music world when he became a convert to Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone system, a form of musical composition that involves the use of all twelve notes in the chromatic scale and that rejects traditional melodic and harmonic patterns. This technique, which allows for discordant combinations of notes, sometimes produces harsh sounds that can jar the musical sensibilities of audiences.

Though his last works were written when Stravinsky was in his eighties, "he never composed a bar of what may be termed 'old man's music,'" asserted Simon Karlinsky in the Nation. Noel Goodwin, writing in Books and Bookmen, similarly hailed the composer as "a genius with the extraordinary faculty for growing younger in creative imagination as his body grew older." Consequently, Stravinsky's final years were unusually productive. "There flowed," reported Heyworth, "another series of masterpieces such as 'Agon' (1957), 'Threni' (1958), and, finally, in 1966, the 'Requiem Canticles.'" Stravinsky, thus, made outstanding contributions to each of the three styles of music in which he composed. Heyworth attributed Stravinsky's greatness to "the variety of music he wrote in each of these styles" and to "the fact that at a period of musical disintegration he wrote more masterpieces than anyone else and continued to do so throughout a period of almost sixty years."

Also during his last years, Stravinsky collaborated with Robert Craft, a long-time associate, on several volumes of autobiographical miscellanea. The first three books, Conversations with Stravinsky, Memories and Commentaries, and Expositions and Developments, present a question-and-answer format. They were assessed by David Drew in New Statesman as "a treasured contribution to the documentation of music in our time." The later collaborations, including Dialogues and a Diary, Themes and Episodes, and Retrospectives and Conclusions, feature extensive commentaries by Craft in addition to Stravinsky's remarks. "The series," wrote a Time reporter, "was born out of complementary needs: Stravinsky's need to get his opinions and perceptions on paper, and Craft's need to nourish his own identity—as a conductor and writer—at the cornucopia of genius."

The collaboration caused Stravinsky to again become the subject of controversy when his personal representative and biographer, Lillian Libman, declared that the composer's contribution to the series was minimal. In And Music at the Close: Stravinsky's Last Years, which was published after the musician's death, Libman claimed that much of the published material alleged to be by Stravinsky was actually the work of Robert Craft. Though Craft acknowledged the words may not have been verbatim, he insisted that the opinions expressed in the volumes were those of Stravinsky. Goodwin concurred, noting that "the force of [Stravinsky's] personality is inescapable, however much the printed text may have been smoothed along by a blend of Craft and spontaneity."

Stravinsky, summarized Karlinsky, has become a legend, whose "evolution can now be seen for what it always was: the rich, purposeful, astoundingly fruitful search for a synthesis between the musical culture of the past and the gradually emerging musical forms, both serious and popular, of the 20th century."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Boretz, Benjamin and Edward T. Cone, editors, Perspectives on Schoenberg and Stravinsky, Princeton University Press, 1968.

Contemporary Musicians, Volume 21, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998.

Craft, Robert, Chronicle of a Friendship, Knopf (New York, NY), 1972.

DeLerma, Dominique-Rene, Igor Fedorovitch Stravinsky, 1882-1971: A Practical Guide to Publications of His Music, Kent State University Press, 1974.

Dobrin, Arnold, Igor Stravinsky: His Life and Times, Crowell, 1970.

Encyclopedia of World Biograhy, Volume 14, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998.

Evans, Evans, The Firebird and Petrouchka, Oxford University Press, 1933.

Igor Stravinsky: A Complete Catalogue of His Published Works, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1957.

International Dictionary of Opera, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1993.

Lang, Paul Henry, editor, Stravinsky: A New Appraisal of His Work, enlarged edition, McLeod, 1969.

Lederman, Minna, editor, Stravinsky in the Theatre, DaCapo Press, 1975.

Libman, Lillian, And Music at the Close: Stravinsky's Last Years, Norton (New York, NY), 1972.

Montagu, Nathan M., Contemporary Russian Composers, C. Palmer & Haywood, 1917.

Siohan, Robert, Stravinsky, translated by Eric Walter White, Grossman, 1970.

Stravinsky and the Dance: A Survey of Ballet Productions, 1910-1962, New York Public Library (New York, NY), 1962.

Stravinsky: Classic Humanist, three volumes, translated by Hans Rosenwald, DaCapo Press, 1973.

Stravinsky, Theodore, Catherine and Igor Stravinsky: A Family Album, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1973.

Stravinsky, Ver, and Robert Craft, Stravinsky in Pictures and Documents, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.

Tansman, Alexandre, Igor Stravinsky: The Man and His Music, translated by Therese and Charles Bleefield, Putnam (New York, NY), 1949.

Vlad, Roman, Stravinsky, translated by Frederick and Ann Fuller, Oxford University Press, 1960.

White, Eric Walter, Stravinsky: A Critical Survey, Greenwood Press (New Haven, CT), 1979.

White, Eric Walter, Stravinsky's Sacrifice to Apollo, Hogarth, 1930.

White, Eric Walter, Stravinsky: The Composer and His Works, enlarged edition, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1979.

PERIODICALS

American Record Guide, March-April, 1999, Tom Godell, "Stravinsky: Firebird, Scriabin, Prometheus," pp. 232-233; May, 2001, Roget Hecht, "Overview: Igor Stravinsky," p. 53.

Atlantic Monthly, November, 1949; June, 1957; May, 1961.

Books and Bookmen, January, 1973.

Commonweal, July 23, 1971.

Life, November 25, 1957.

Los Angeles Times, December 15, 2001, Daniel Cariaga, "Music Review: Mehta and Stravinsky: An Intense Combination," p. F11.

Musical Quarterly, April, 1919; July, 1935; July, 1940; January, 1941; July, 1962.

Nation, June 15, 1970.

National Observer, March 9, 1970.

New Republic, January 10, 1970.

Newsweek, November 3, 1947; June 24, 1957; February 3, 1958; May 11, 1959; August 22, 1960; May 21, 1962; October 15, 1962; January 19, 1970; July 17, 1972; January 8, 1979.

New Yorker, January 5, 1935.

New York Times, March 25, 1970; March 3, 1972; April 24, 2001, Anthony Tommasini, "Hollywood Denizens, Like Stravinsky," p. E5.

New York Times Book Review, June 10, 1962.

New York Times Magazine, June 15, 1952.

Nouvelle revue francaise, November 1, 1913.

Observer Review, April 11, 1969.

Punch, February 13, 1970.

Saturday Review, May 3, 1947; June 26, 1954; March 12, 1960; July 29, 1961; May 29, 1971.

Spectator, June 28, 1957; September 20, 1975.

Tempo, summer, 1948; spring-summer, 1962; summer, 1967.

Time, February 4, 1946; November 3, 1947; July 26, 1948; June 24, 1957; January 4, 1960; May 6, 1966; December 19, 1969; September 18, 1972; June 8, 1998, Philip Glass, "Igor Stravinsky: The Classical Musician," pp. 141-142.

Times Literary Supplement, December 22, 1972; October 18, 1974; May 26, 1978.

Vogue, November 1, 1963; April 15, 1965.