Igor Stravinsky
Rite of Spring revolutionized modern music
Most quoted
"What is important for the lucid ordering of the work—for its crystallization—is that all the Dionysian elements which set the imagination of the artist in motion and make the life-sap rise must be properly subjugated before they intoxicate us, and must finally be made to submit to the law: Apollo demands it."
— from Poetics of Music, 1939
"For I consider that music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all, whether a feeling, an attitude, a psychological state, a natural phenomenon, etc.... Expression has never been an inherent property of music and is certainly not the aim of its existence."
— from An Autobiography (Chroniques de ma vie), 1936
"The faculty of creating is never given to us all by itself. It always goes hand in hand with the gift of observation. And the true creator may be recognized by his ability always to find about him, in the commonest and humblest thing, items worthy of note."
— from Poetics of Music, 1939
All quotes by Igor Stravinsky (372)
My music is best understood by children and animals.
To listen is an effort, and a creative effort. The listener is a performer too.
I have often been accused of a certain coldness in my music. That is true, and I am not ashamed of it. When I compose, I do so with a certain detachment, and I believe that this detachment is essential for the creation of a work of art.
Music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all.
The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees oneself. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution.
I am the most religious man in the world. I believe in God, I believe in the devil, I believe in everything.
A good composer does not imitate; he invents.
The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.
My music is not 'modern.' It is simply music.
I hate the word 'inspiration.' It is a word for amateurs. I work.
I have learned that it is better to be a good craftsman than a bad genius.
The true creator is a man who is not afraid to say 'no' to the world.
I am not a revolutionary. I am a traditionalist.
The composer's duty is to invent. He is not to be concerned with the listener.
I am not interested in expressing myself. I am interested in constructing.
The only thing that matters in art is the work itself.
I never compose anything without a clear idea of what I want to achieve.
My music is a series of shocks.
I am not a prophet. I am a musician.
The more I work, the more I want to work.
Contemporaries of Igor Stravinsky
Other Musics born within 50 years of Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971).