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)
The composer must be a master of his craft.
I am not interested in the 'message' of music. I am interested in the music itself.
The true artist is a man of his time.
I am not a theoretician. I am a practitioner.
Music is a game. A game with rules.
The composer must be a man of order.
I am not interested in the 'emotions' of music. I am interested in the structure.
The artist is a man who sees things differently.
I am not a philosopher. I am a composer.
Music is a form of communication, but it communicates nothing specific.
The composer must be a man of discipline.
I am not interested in the 'meaning' of music. I am interested in the sound.
The artist is a man who creates order out of chaos.
I am not a sentimentalist. I am a realist.
Music is a language, but it is a language without words.
The composer must be a man of integrity.
I am not interested in the 'beauty' of music. I am interested in the truth.
The artist is a man who is always learning.
I am not a romantic. I am a classicist.
The composer must be a man of vision.
Contemporaries of Igor Stravinsky
Other Musics born within 50 years of Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971).