Overview

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky can be considered the quintessential representative of 20th-century music. He was a composer whose past, present, and future activities garnered global attention from the beginning of the 20th century throughout his life, to the extent that he was called "the most performed, most recorded, most interviewed, most photographed, and most discussed composer" of the 20th century. Furthermore, even focusing solely on his movements, one is struck by the remarkably broad scope of his activities, geographically, professionally, and creatively. Geographically, born in Imperial Russia, he engaged in global activities, moving between Switzerland, France, and the United States, caught up in great upheavals. Professionally, he continued to attract attention not only as a composer but also as a conductor, pianist, and music writer. Creatively, it is noteworthy that merely tracing Stravinsky's life inevitably leads to references to all the most important schools of 20th-century music. Simply listing his early Neo-Nationalist style, the experimental nationalism seen in his works from the World War I era, the Neoclassicism that continued for 20 to 30 years from 1920, and finally his late Serialism, reveals that "Stravinsky's music" encompasses a vast diversity. This breadth makes understanding Stravinsky's music challenging, while also testifying to its profound depth.

Birth ~ Activities in Imperial Russia

On June 17, 1882 (June 5, Old Style), Stravinsky was born the third of four sons to musician parents in Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov), a western suburb of Saint Petersburg. His father, Fyodor, despite graduating from the Faculty of Law, was an opera singer who performed as a soloist at the Mariinsky Theatre, and his mother was his accompanying pianist. Igor, too, after graduating from the Faculty of Law at Saint Petersburg University, would follow a path similar to his father's, gaining fame not as a prosecutor, lawyer, or legal scholar, but as a composer.

It can be said that what led Stravinsky to a career in music was his father, who made music his profession, and above all, his composition teacher, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. After his father Fyodor passed away in 1902, Stravinsky came to admire Rimsky-Korsakov both as a composition teacher and as a second father. In the serious lessons that began under him in 1903, the main focus was on learning instrumentation and orchestration based primarily on works by Beethoven and Schubert, along with the critique and revision of Stravinsky's own studies, through which the young Igor rapidly honed his skills. Furthermore, Stravinsky's ability to interact with various composers who gathered around his teacher in what was known as the "Belyayev Circle" must have been extremely significant.

Rimsky-Korsakov passed away in 1908, but Stravinsky, as a composer, had already effectively left his tutelage. After completing several orchestral works, including Funeral Song dedicated to his teacher, and Four Etudes, his only non-study piano work from this period, a certain opportunity arose for him. This was a request from the impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who had been leading avant-garde artistic activities since the late 19th century, had been promoting Russian composers abroad since 1907, and had founded the "Ballets Russes." He asked Stravinsky to orchestrate Chopin's works for the ballet Les Sylphides (Chopiniana). Stravinsky responded by arranging Nocturne Op. 32, No. 2 and Grande Valse Brillante Op. 18, which were premiered with Fokine's choreography at the 4th Saison Russe ("Russian Season") in Paris.

With this as a prelude, Stravinsky rapidly gained worldwide fame as a modern composer. This marked the creation of the so-called "Three Great Ballets."

The sudden telegram from Diaghilev in late summer 1909, requesting the composition of The Firebird, marked the beginning of the "Three Great Ballets." This ballet, completed meticulously within the deadline, was well-received when performed at the 5th Saison Russe in Paris on June 25. This grand spectacle, praised as "the culmination of the music of the homeland from Glinka to Scriabin," drew its subject matter from two folk tales compiled by the Russian ethnographer Afanasyev. For Westerners, the overtly "Russian" oriental elements can be seen both in the musical content (modes and quotations of folk melodies) and in the folkloric characters, such as the evil Kashchei (also a subject of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera).

Stravinsky's next composition was Petrushka, which he began in late August 1910. This enigmatic ballet, premiered on June 13, 1911, continued to incorporate abundant Russian elements, following its predecessor. Stravinsky extensively incorporated folk songs into the score and treated Russian popular customs as his subject matter. Examples include the setting of "Maslenitsa," a spring welcoming festival, and elements like puppet shows and peep shows seen within the drama.

What truly propelled Stravinsky to become a "representative of modern music" was undoubtedly The Rite of Spring, completed in March 1913 and premiered in May at the 7th Saison Russe in Paris. This work, which this time took ancient Slavic pagan rituals as its subject, became a major scandal due to its infamous premiere with Nijinsky's choreography, which "developed into a riot." The music, as before, incorporated folk-like elements, but through Stravinsky's ingenuity, these were freely reconstructed, creating the unique sound world well-known today.

Swiss Period (1914-1920)

Stravinsky had been living by moving between Russia and abroad since the period of the "Three Great Ballets," but the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and the Russian Revolution in 1917 decisively changed his life. Stravinsky moved to neutral Switzerland and began to dedicate himself thoroughly to musical activities. During this period, works for smaller ensembles also began to be frequently composed, and in such works, experimental elements of sound, as exemplified by L'Histoire du soldat, are prominent.

Important factors concerning Stravinsky's compositions during this period include his friendships with Satie, "Les Six," and Schoenberg, which began in 1913, and his internal connection with his homeland after leaving Russia. Regarding the former, it is known that he exchanged dozens of letters with Satie, and that he and Schoenberg, a composer who stood alongside Stravinsky as a giant of the 20th century, mutually recognized each other's works. Regarding the latter, his deep friendships with Russian exiles after the Russian Revolution and his connection to the nationalistic and nostalgic Eurasianist ideology gained through these relationships are well-known. Some scholars argue that this ideology is linked to several works written thereafter, such as the use of the theme of Russian wedding rituals in Les Noces and the motif of Russian funeral rites appearing in the Symphonies of Wind Instruments.

French Period (1920-1939)

In 1920, Stravinsky moved to France and continued his creative activities in the country for about 20 years, moving residences frequently. The transition to Stravinsky's so-called "Neoclassical period," which is said to have begun with Pulcinella (or the opera Mavra from 1923), written in the same year of his move at Diaghilev's commission, is a characteristic feature of Stravinsky's compositions during this period. From this point until the 1950s, Stravinsky began to incorporate into his compositions a method of creating new music by referencing older Western music. In parallel, his relationship with Schoenberg, who had entered a new phase of composition with the development of the twelve-tone technique, deteriorated. Schoenberg's Three Satires for Mixed Chorus, Op. 28 (1925), clearly incorporated criticism of Stravinsky and his neoclassical music. This antagonistic relationship, exacerbated by figures such as the exiled Russian composer Arthur Lourié, who served as Stravinsky's assistant at the time, continued until Schoenberg's death, even after both composers moved to America.

It is also argued that the transition to Neoclassicism during this period is linked to Stravinsky's waning interest in his homeland, Russia. Indeed, while major works such as operas, ballets, Symphony of Psalms, and Symphony in C continued to be written, it is an interesting fact that vocal works with Russian lyrics, which had been frequently composed before, almost ceased to be written. Furthermore, it should be noted that the intensification of his performing activities as a pianist and conductor, in addition to his compositional work, also occurred during this period. Moreover, his autobiography Chronicles of My Life, published in two volumes in 1935 and 1936, with his fellow exile Nouvel (Nouvel), who served as secretary and general factotum for the Ballets Russes, as ghostwriter, marked the beginning of his later life's efforts to shape his public image through self-reference, albeit with the help of others.

American Period (1940-1971)

With the outbreak of World War II, Stravinsky formally decided to relocate after delivering a series of lectures at Harvard University, which were later published as Poetics of Music, and from 1941, he took up residence in the famous Beverly Hills. He was already in his late 50s. Although he had frequently traveled to America and works like Dumbarton Oaks Concerto were commissioned from there, the decision to leave his second home, France (where he had acquired French citizenship in 1936), after 20 years of familiarity, and to move to a third foreign country, would not have been easy. However, as a result, Stravinsky found new musical partners in this place, began to actively explore new musical languages, and reached new horizons in his musical activities.

Many cultural figures, including prominent artists like Otto Klemperer, Arthur Rubinstein, and George Balanchine, had moved to Los Angeles during World War II. Furthermore, his rival Schoenberg lived near Stravinsky, but their relationship reportedly did not improve even under such circumstances. The most important acquaintance gained during this period was likely his disciple and assistant, the conductor Robert Craft. Craft, who assisted with compositional activities, proposed dramatic scripts, and handled other miscellaneous tasks, left behind his most notable work in the numerous books co-authored with Stravinsky. These writings are "strange, eclectic, and eccentric" problematic works, and not a few scholars believe they hinder the understanding and evaluation of Stravinsky's biographical facts and his true image. When we attempt to trace his thoughts by reading works supposedly "written by Stravinsky," we must bear in mind the fact that ghostwriters were behind them, and that Stravinsky was often guided by their arbitrary questions designed to elicit desired answers.

Musically, Stravinsky's activities also showed a somewhat peculiar development. From the 1950s, after Schoenberg's death, Stravinsky began to dabble in serial techniques, which developed from the twelve-tone method. While it is difficult to precisely grasp the change in his mindset as he actively composed works of various genres and scales, such as the ballet Agon, the opera The Flood, the choral work Canticum Sacrum, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, and the song Elegy for J.F.K., there is something astonishing about Stravinsky's eagerness at the age of 70 to shed his past self and pursue new things. His exploration of serial techniques continued until his death on April 6, 1971, at the age of 88.

Overview of Piano Works

Stravinsky ventured into every conceivable musical genre. Piano works were no exception. Among his early works, Four Etudes, Three Movements from Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring for piano four hands are representative, and perhaps because some parts were not intended for his own performance, many works feature virtuosic technical demands. During the Neoclassical period, perhaps due to his own activity as a pianist in addition to the change in style, works with less complex textures than his early pieces became prominent, ranging from the Piano Sonata of 1924 and the following year's Serenade in A to the Sonata for Two Pianos (1944) composed after his move to America. In his late works, new compositions for piano almost ceased, but even so, the Piano Concerto is a representative work of Stravinsky's serial period, and also a piece where his excellent sense of timbre is fully demonstrated.