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 purpose of art is not to express, but to create.
My music is a reflection of my life, and my experiences.
The artist is a kind of a prophet, who sees the future.
I have always tried to push the boundaries of music.
Music is a universal language.
The true artist is a man who is not afraid to be himself.
I believe in the power of beauty to inspire and uplift.
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.
I am a composer. I am not a philosopher, nor a poet, nor a painter, nor a sculptor. I am a musician.
To listen is an effort, and a difficult one. To listen to a work of music is to make an effort to hear what the composer has put into it.
Tradition is a living force that animates and informs the present. It is not a museum piece.
The creator's function is to discriminate, to choose, and to combine.
I have often been accused of being a revolutionary. I am not. I am a traditionalist.
A composer is a man who organizes sounds. And if he organizes them well, he is a great composer.
The true creator is a man who is able to take a given material and transform it into something new.
I am not interested in expressing myself. I am interested in constructing a work.
The more one tries to be original, the more one risks being conventional.
The greatest danger for a composer is to be understood too quickly.
I hate music that is 'expressive.' I like music that is 'made.'
The artist is not a slave to his emotions. He is a master of them.
Contemporaries of Igor Stravinsky
Other Musics born within 50 years of Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971).