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 more I work, the luckier I get.
Music is the sole domain in which man realizes the present.
I have never been able to understand why people are so interested in my private life. My music is my life.
I am not trying to be difficult. I am trying to be myself.
The artist is a creator, not a reproducer.
I have always been a man of my word, even when my word was a lie.
My music is a reflection of my life, and my life is a reflection of my music.
I am not a genius. I am a worker.
I have always been interested in the past, but I have always lived in the present.
The only thing that matters is the music itself, not what people say about it.
I have never been able to understand why people are so afraid of silence. It is the most beautiful sound.
I am not a prophet. I am a composer.
My music is not meant to be beautiful. It is meant to be true.
I have always been a man of contradictions, and I have always been a man of consistency.
The artist is a mirror, not a window.
I have never been able to understand why people are so interested in my age. I am as old as I feel.
I am not a teacher. I am a student.
My music is not meant to be easy. It is meant to be challenging.
I have always been a man of my own opinions, even when my opinions were wrong.
The artist is a creator of order, not a creator of chaos.
Contemporaries of Igor Stravinsky
Other Musics born within 50 years of Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971).