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's task is to invent music.
I have always been drawn to the exotic, the unfamiliar, the unknown.
Music is a form of communication, a way to express what cannot be put into words.
I am a creature of habit, but I am also a creature of change.
The artist must be free to express himself, without fear of judgment or criticism.
I have always believed that music should be a challenge, not a comfort.
Music is a journey, a discovery, an exploration.
I am a composer of the present, not the past or the future.
The true masterpiece is a work that stands the test of time.
I have always been fascinated by the power of silence in music.
Music is a universal language that speaks to the soul.
I am a disciplined artist, but I am also a spontaneous one.
The artist's role is to create, not to explain.
I have always been drawn to the raw energy of folk music.
Music is a form of magic, a way to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
I am a composer who believes in the power of structure and form.
The true artist is a visionary, a prophet, a seer.
I have always been fascinated by the interplay of light and shadow in music.
Music is a journey into the unknown, a voyage of discovery.
I am a composer who is constantly evolving, constantly reinventing myself.
Contemporaries of Igor Stravinsky
Other Musics born within 50 years of Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971).