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)
I have always tried to be as objective as possible in my music.
Music is a force that can change the world.
I believe in the power of rhythm.
The greatest joy for a composer is to hear his music performed.
I am not afraid of silence.
The future of music is in the past.
I have always been drawn to the primitive.
My music is a reflection of my life.
I believe in the importance of tradition.
The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator collaborates.
I am not interested in being original. I am interested in being good.
The function of music is to organize time.
I have always been a man of order.
The more one works, the more one wants to work.
I am a slave to my work.
The artist is a craftsman.
I believe in the power of the subconscious.
Music is a language that transcends words.
I have always been fascinated by the unknown.
The most important thing in art is to be true to oneself.
Contemporaries of Igor Stravinsky
Other Musics born within 50 years of Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971).