Who was a teacher and Stravinsky. Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky

June 17 marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of the Russian composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky.

Russian composer and conductor Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was born on June 17 (June 5, old style) 1882 in Oraniembaum (now the city of Lomonosov), near St. Petersburg. The Stravinsky family descended from Polish landowners (the original surname was Sulima-Stravinsky, after the name of two tributaries of the Vistula - Strava and Sulima). Stravinsky's father was famous in St. Petersburg opera singer Fyodor Stravinsky, mother is a pianist.

From the age of nine, Igor learned to play the piano.

In 1905, Stravinsky attended a full course of lectures at the Faculty of Law, but final exams did not give up. In April 1906, he received a certificate of the courses he had taken and passed.

Stravinsky began serious professional studies in the field of music after 1902, when, as a student at St. Petersburg University, he studied composition with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for five years, spontaneously replenishing his own knowledge in other areas of musical art.

At the same time, he became close with Sergei Diaghilev, the artists of the "World of Art" (an association based on a circle of young artists and art lovers headed by Alexander Benois and Diaghilev), visited the musical branch of this association "Evenings contemporary music as well as concerts new music hosted by pianist and conductor Alexander Siloti.

Stravinsky's first composing experiments - the piano sonata (1904), the vocal-symphonic suite Faun and the Shepherdess (1906), the symphony in E-flat major (1907), the Fantastic Scherzo and Fireworks for orchestra (1908), are marked by the influence school of Rimsky Korsakov and the French Impressionists.

From 1910 Stravinsky lived alternately in Paris (France), Switzerland, and Russia. In 1914-1920 he lived in Switzerland.

During this period of creativity, the composer turned to Russian folklore, the various layers of which were refracted in a peculiar way in Stravinsky's ballets, commissioned by Diaghilev for the Russian Seasons.

Igor Stravinsky's first ballet "The Firebird" on the stage of the Parisian "Grand Opera". It marked the beginning of the composer's fame.

Later, for Diaghilev, Stravinsky wrote music for the ballets Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913).

Elements of Russian folklore with the means of musical modernism were used by the composer in the choreographic scenes of "The Wedding" (1914-1923), the opera "The Nightingale" (1914), "The Tale of the Fox, the Rooster, the Cat and the Sheep" (1917), "The Story of a Soldier" (1918). ).

In 1920 Stravinsky moved to France, and in 1934 he took French citizenship.

An important milestone in his work is "Pulcinella" - a ballet with singing, which is based on fragments of the music of the 18th century composers Pergolesi, Gallo, Kelleri and Parisotti, re-instrumented by Stravinsky, the plot of the ballet was designed jointly with Diaghilev and choreographer Leonid Myasin. For the first time the ballet "Pulcinella" was staged on May 15, 1920 under the baton of conductor Ernest Ansermet, with decorations by Pablo Picasso.

Among the works of the Parisian period are the buff opera "Mavra" by Alexander Pushkin (1922), the ballets "Apollo Musagete" (1927-1928), "Kiss of the Fairy" (1928), written for the troupe of Ida Rubinstein and provoked a break with Diaghilev. Stravinsky wrote the ballets Playing Cards (1936) and Orpheus (1947), the opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex (1927), the melodrama Persephone (1938), the opera The Rake's Progress (1951), an octet for wind (1923), "Symphony of Psalms" (1930), concerto for violin and orchestra (1931) and other works.

In 1939, Igor Stravinsky moved to the United States, and in 1945 he became an American citizen.

The composer's work in the 1950s and 1960s is characterized by immersion in the music of the pre-Bach era, an appeal to biblical subjects, and the use of a constructive 12-tone (dodecaphone) composition system. Most significant works of this time "Sacred chant in honor of the Apostle Mark" (1955), ballet "Agon" (1957), "Monument to Gesualdo di Venosa for the 400th anniversary" for orchestra (1960), cantata allegory "The Flood" in the spirit of English mysteries of the 15th century (1962 ). Stravinsky's style became more and more ascetic, constructively neutral.

In 1966, when Stravinsky was seriously ill, he wrote Requiem Canticles (Chants for the Dead) for soloists, choir and chamber orchestra. The composition-epitaph is imbued with a bright anticipation of God and a quivering human approach to the other world.

The last work of the composer - an instrumentation of two spiritual songs by Hugo Wolf - is written in German, previously unused.

From 1924 Stravinsky performed as a pianist and conductor of his own works. His concert activity acquired a wide scope after the Second World War, this was due to the growing popularity of the composer and his influence on the development of the world musical culture generally.

In 1939, the composer was teaching - he gave a course of lectures "Musical Poetics" at Harvard University in the USA.

In 1962, at the invitation of the USSR Ministry of Culture, Igor Stravinsky gave several concerts in Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).

In Ukraine, the Igor Stravinsky Museum was established in the town of Ustilug.

In the Swiss city of Montreux there is a street "Rite of Spring", the largest in the country concert hall named after the composer - Auditorium Stravinsky. In Paris, in front of the Georges Pompidou Center, a fountain is named after Stravinsky, in the city of Lomonosov (formerly Oranienbaum), where the composer was born, - School of Music. The name of the composer was given to the A-319 aircraft of the Aeroflot company. On the planet Mercury, one crater is named after Igor Stravinsky.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STRAVINSKY'S WORKS

The years of the composer's life 1882 �1871.

Per long life this Stravinsky managed to use all the achievements of modern

avant-garde music. Russian folk song, the richness of its rhythmic-melodic structure

were for Stravinsky a source of creation of his own melody of the folklore type.

Stravinsky was never simply an epigone of any style. On the contrary, any stylistic

the model was transformed by him into an exclusively individual creation. With all the stylistic

contrast, Stravinsky's work is distinguished by unity, due to his Russian

roots and the presence of stable elements, manifested in the works of different years. He is one

first discovered new musical and structural elements in folklore, assimilated some

modern intonations (for example, jazz), brought a lot of new things to the metro-rhythmic organization,

orchestration, interpretation of genres.

But nevertheless, the figurative and stylistic plurality of the t-va S. is subordinated in each creative period

its core trend. The entire extremely lengthy creative way Stravinsky

usually divided into three periods.

In the Russian period (1908, early 1920s), Stravinsky showed particular interest in the ancient

and contemporary Russian folklore, to ritual and ceremonial images. During these years

principles are formed musical aesthetics Stravinsky, associated with ｫperformance theaterｻ,

laying down the basic elements musical languageｫsingingｻ theme, free

metrorhythm, ostinato, variant development, etc. The period is marked by undivided

the dominance of Russian themes - be it folk tale, pagan rituals, urban household

scenes or Pushkin's poem. It was during this period that ｫPetrushkaｻ Russian amusing

scenes in four scenes (1910-1911), ｫThe Firebirdｻ (1909-1910), ｫThe Rite of Springｻ (1911-

1913), ｫSoldier's Storyｻ, ｫFox, Rooster, Cat da Ramｻ (1915-1916), ｫMavraｻ

(1921-1922), ｫWeddingｻ (1917, final version 1923).

In the next, so-called. neoclassical, period (until the beginning of the 1950s) to replace the Russian theme

ancient mythology came, biblical texts occupied a significant place. Stravinsky

turned to various style models, mastering the techniques and means of European music

baroque (opera-oratorio ｫOedipus Rexｻ, 1927), the technique of ancient polyphony (ｫSymphony

Psalmsｻ for choir and orchestra, 1930) and others. These works, as well as ballet with singing

ｫPulcinellaｻ (on themes by G. B. Pergolesi, 1920), ballets ｫKiss of the Fairyｻ (1928), ｫOrpheusｻ

(1947), 2nd and 3rd Symp. (1940, 1945), opera ｫThe Rake's Adventuresｻ (1951) �not so high

examples of stylization, how many bright original works (using various historical and

stylistic models, the composer in accordance with his individual qualities creates

modern-sounding works).

The third period of Stravinsky's work, which was prepared gradually, within the second,

comes in the early 1950s. Having visited Europe twice during 1951-1952 (at this time

composer permanently lives in America), he masters the dodecaphone technique (however, in

within Stravinsky's inherent tonal thinking). On its basis, his latest

works - ballet ｫAgonｻ (1953-1957), cantata ｫTreniｻ, opera-ballet ｫFloodｻ (1961-1962),

ｫThree songs from William Shakespeareｻ, ｫFuneral musicｻ in memory of the poet Dylan Thomas and others.

Also, the late period of t-va S. is characterized by the predominance of religious themes (ｫSacred

chantｻ (1956); "Lamentation of the prophet Jeremiah" (1957-1958); Requiem ｫChants for the Deadｻ

(1966, final essay composer), etc.), strengthening the role vocal start(the words) .

By genre for clarity:

Musical Theatre

ｫFirebirdｻ, ballet in two scenes (1909-1910)

ｫPetrushkaｻ, Russian amusing scenes in four scenes (1910-1911, edition 1948)

ｫThe Rite of Springｻ, scenes pagan Russia in two scenes (1911-1913, edition 1943)

ｫThe Nightingaleｻ, opera in three acts (1908-1914),

ｫTale about the Fox, the Rooster, the Cat and the Sheepｻ (1915-1916), libretto by the author based on Russian fairy tales from

ｫSvadebkaｻ, Russian choreographic scenes for soloists, choir, four pianos and percussion

ｫSoldier's storyｻ (ｫThe tale of the runaway soldier and the devil, played, read and dancedｻ) for three

reciters, dancers and instrumental ensemble (1918)

ｫPulcinellaｻ, ballet with singing in one act based on the music of Gallo, Pergolesi and others

composers (1919-1920)

ｫMavraｻ, comic opera in one act (1921-1922)

ｫApollo Musageteｻ, ballet in two scenes (1927-1928)

ｫKiss of the Fairyｻ, ballet in four scenes after music by Tchaikovsky (1928)

ｫPersephoneｻ, melodrama in three scenes for reciter, tenor, choir and orchestra (1933-1934)

ｫPlaying cardsｻ, ballet ｫin three dealsｻ (1936-1937)

ｫOrpheusｻ, ballet in three scenes (1947)

ｫThe Rake's Adventuresｻ, an opera in three acts with an epilogue (1947-1951)

ｫAgonｻ, ballet (1953-1957).

ｫThe Flood (opera)ｻ, biblical opera for soloists, actors, reader and orchestra (1961-1962).

Orchestral works

Symphony Es-dur, op. 1 (1905-1907)

Igor Fedorovich STRAVINSKY

(1882-1971)

Russian composer, conductor. The son of the singer F.I. Stravinsky. From childhood, he studied piano with A.P. Snetkova and L.A. Kashperova, took composition lessons from N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov.

In 1900-1905.studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University.

Since 1914lived in Switzerland since 1920- in France, since 1939- in the USA (in 1934 adopted the French 1945- and American citizenship). Stravinsky gave many concerts throughout his life: he performed as a conductor and as a pianist.

Conventionally, the work of I. Stravinsky can be divided into several periods.

Since 1908 - the beginning of the 20s. – Russian period . A long friendship between Stravinsky and Diaghilev begins. Igor Stravinsky writes ballets (1910), (1911), (1913), which brought him world fame. Their premieres take place in "Russian Seasons" in Paris.

During this period of creativity, the musical aesthetics of Stravinsky was formed, due to the great interest of the composer in folklore, in the booth, popular print, theatrical performance, and musical style ("singing" thematism, free metrorhythm, ostinatism, variant development )

J A R - P T I C A

June 1910 - the beginning of the world fame of Igor Stravinsky - premiere " Firebirds" on the stage of the Paris Grand Opera. The sound of the score is illuminated by the traditions of the great teacher ( late style ON THE. Rimsky-Korsakov) But this is already Stravinsky, stunning in its multicoloredness and dazzling brightness of the sound palette.

P E T R U S H K A

A year later, Stravinsky writes the second ballet to the libretto Alexandra Benois- "Parsley". Both Blokovsky's "Balaganchik", and Italian masks - Pierrot with a paper bride, and bloody "puppet passions", albeit invisibly, but are present here: Petrushka is tragically in love with the heroine of the ballet Ballerina, because of which he dies from the blow of the saber of the hated Arap.

In "Petrushka" Stravinsky addresses the listener in an unprecedented musical language (new methods of orchestration, free, "layered" polyphony, harmonic novelty - all this combined with street "farce folklore"), but, nevertheless, thanks to acute theatrical imagery and national origins, dating back to the Russian musical life of the 30s - 10s. XIX- XXcentury, understandable to everyone .

W E S U S V I S E N H AND I

From the interview c N. Roerich:

“- The content and sketches of this ballet are mine, the music is written by the young composer I. Stravinsky. The new ballet gives a number of pictures of the sacred night among the ancient Slavs. If you remember, in some of my paintings these moments were touched upon ...

The action takes place on the top of a sacred hill, before dawn. The action begins on a summer night and ends before sunrise, when the first rays are shown. Actually, the choreographic part consists in ritual dances. This thing will be the first attempt without a definite dramatic plot give a reproduction of antiquity, which does not need any words. I think that if we were transported into deep antiquity, then these words would still be incomprehensible to us.

- The ballet will be short?

- It's one act, but I don't think it's particularly short. The brevity of the ballet makes the impression more complete. Of course, I could tie the plot, but it would just be tied.

- Whose dances?

– Fokina<...>We are three in the same degree ignited this work and decided to work together.

Ballet by artist N.K. Roerich. Petersburg newspaper. 28.08.1910.

“Throughout my work, I let the listeners feel in lapidary rhythms the proximity of people to the earth, the community of their life with the earth. The whole thing must be danced from beginning to end - not a single bar is given to pantomime. It is put by Nijinsky, who set to work with passionate zeal and self-forgetfulness.

And.Stravinsky about "The Rite of Spring".

The original name of "The Rite of Spring" - "AT great sacrifice"(later the second part of the ballet was called “The Great Sacrifice”). This work, like no other by Stravinsky, has undergone many changes and variations in its title. In the press of that time, the ballet was called the “Great Sacrifice”, and “Holy Spring”, and “Spring Wedding”, “Spring Consecration”, “Seeing Spring”, “Ghosts of Spring” and even “Red Spring”. This was apparently due not only to the search for a more accurate translation cFrench "Le Sacre du Printemps"- a name that was found shortly before the premiere of the ballet, but also with a gradual refinement of the very plot outline of this “plotless ballet”.

The composer seems to resurrect in music the primordial existence of man, the severity of the customs of the tribe, led by Oldest Wisest, immerses in the atmosphere of rituals: spring divination, spells of the forces of nature, kidnapping of girls, Kiss of the earth, Magnification of the Chosen One and Sacrifice - irrigation of the earth with its sacrificial blood. The music of "The Rite of Spring" is tense and saturated with dissonant power, polytonal constructions; a complex harmonic language combined with rhythmic sophistication and incessant melodic discordant influxes (thematism is based on chants that are close to the oldest samples of Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian ritual songs and tunes, possibly ascending to genuine "vesnyanka" that sounded along the banks of the Dnieper, Tesna, Berezina and in time immemorial) creates a score of the unity of man and the natural element, which has never yet appeared in composer's work until now.

"Spring" was given<…>in a new, still uninhabited hall, too comfortable and cold for the public.<…>I do not want to say that on a more modest stage, "Spring" would have met with a warmer reception; but one look at this magnificent hall was enough to understand the incompatibility full of strength and the youthfulness of the work and the decadent audience.<…>At the premiere of this historical work there was such a noise that the dancers could not hear the orchestra and had to follow the rhythm that Nijinsky, yelling and stomping with all his might, beat them from behind the curtains ... The audience ... reared up. In the hall they laughed, hooted, whistled, howled, clucked, barked, and, in the end, perhaps tired, everyone would have calmed down, if not for a crowd of aesthetes and a handful of musicians, who, in the heat of immoderate delight, began to insult and bully the audience sitting in the box . And then the hubbub grew into a uniform battle. Standing in her box, with the diadem slid to one side, the elderly Countess de Pourtale, all red, shouted, shaking her fan: "For the first time in 60 years, they dared to mock me." The brave lady was completely sincere. She thought she was being mystified."

Cocteau AND.Memories portraits.

“... Stravinsky ... begins to forge elastic and characteristically Russian song and dance rhythms and intonations, Russian not in ethnographic terms and not in the aesthetic sense, but as the fundamental principles of the musical language, especially well preserved in the "music of the oral tradition" of our peasantry and Eastern peoples. We need to understand this difference in relation to folk music before and now. It is one thing to imitate archaic intonations and rhythms, it is another thing to forge your own language and deepen your artistic outlook and his creativity on a broad basis of social and musical experience and through the organic assimilation of the richest intonational turns and rhythmic formulas, almost excluded from the everyday life of European rationalized music.

B. Asafiev

In 1915, S. Prokofiev wrote a short review of Igor Stravinsky's collection "Three Songs" (from the memoirs of his youthful years) for voice and piano, which had just been released in Russia -,: “Before us is a tiny gray notebook, in content inversely proportional to its size and color. These are three naive songs that the composer dug up among his youthful sketches and, having made an accompaniment, dedicated them to his young children. The untouched childish simplicity of the vocal part, combined with the sophisticated accompaniment, produces an unusually piquant impression. Actually, the accompaniment according to the drawing is clear and simple, but more than once it will pinch the ear with unusual harmonies. Upon closer examination, one will be struck by the witty and at the same time iron logic with which the composer achieves these consonances. All three songs are artistic in form, very imaginative, childlike and genuinely cheerful. Each individually is microscopically short, but taken together, they form a small number that can decorate a concert program.

““ Jokes ”- by the time of creation, the earliest of Stravinsky’s Russian cycles, testifying to his great interest in poetic folklore. Even before he took several fairy tales from Afanasiev’s collection as a literary basis, those short “trifles” were embodied in music ”(Asafiev’s expression), which are distinguished in oral folklore not only by extraordinary laconicism, but also by the closest proximity to song sizes, an abundance of rhymes, alliterations - everything that distinguishes poetry from prose. It is quite characteristic in this regard that some of Afanasiev's jokes were also included in the songs (, the second of the Lullabies), and in the “Bayka” composed a year and a half later, deepening the inner poetry, musicality of its literary basis. And fairy tales, in turn, provided material not only for “Tales” and “Soldier’s Story”, but also for some miniatures (poems from the fairy tale “Bear” are taken from the cycle “Three Stories for Children”).

Another genre feature of folk jokes that ... attracted Stravinsky is their connection with folk humor, jokes, and play. Some of them are magnificent examples of poetic fantasy, fiction and are usually framed in the form of witty and deftly rhymed rhymes - funny sayings or riddles ... The origin and meaning of folklore of this kind are well explained by the author himself: “The word“ jokes ”denotes a certain kind of Russian folk verse. .. It means “folding”, “at” corresponds to the Latin “ rge”, and “ baut" comes from the old Russian verb in the indefinite mood " bait" (to speak). "Jests" are short rhymes, usually containing no more than four lines. By folk tradition they add up in a game in which one of the participants says a word, then the second adds another to it, then the third and fourth act in the same way, and so on, all at the fastest pace. , "Counting" and - these are games of the same type, and their goal is also to catch and exclude a partner who is late and slow with remarks ... ".

The name of another folklore genre was transferred to the subtitle of the choral cycle of four songs - "Podblyuchnye" (1914-1917). The cycle is characterized by the same close unity as the previous two, and is also associated with a playful beginning, this time in the form of an old custom of divination with a cup or dish, explaining the etymology of the genre definition of songs of this kind: “On New Year’s Eve, girls gather together and usually they guess about their betrothed like this: they put a cup of water on the table, lower rings or earrings into it, etc., and cover it with a tablecloth. Then everyone sits down at the table, and the women, who know the songs well, sing. At this time, each girl tries to take her ring out of the cup to the sounds of that song verse that she especially likes.

... Since the described ritual actions occur with many participants and, therefore, are performed repeatedly, special meaning in the musical structure of the songs, the tradition of repetitions acquires, peculiarly reconstructed by Stravinsky: the choirs of his cycle are brought together, in particular, by the refrain "Glorious" or "Glory" invariably repeated after each stanza.

The remaining cycles of the Russian period - "Three Stories for Children" (1915-1917) and "Four Russian Songs" (1918-1919) - are more heterogeneous in terms of genre (perhaps the composer used in them the remains of text blanks he made for previously written works ), which can already be seen from the names of the songs that composed them. But here, too, the predominance of the game beginning is beyond doubt. baby cycle in this respect, it continues the line of "Memories of my childhood" (it is no coincidence that in the above quote the author names some of the songs of both cycles interspersed with each other, emphasizing their connection with the game). And the cycle of songs most naturally comes close to "Jests" and "Podblyudnye". The texts of most of the pieces are different types of folk games: round dance (), ritual-fortune-telling (), festive () ... "

Y. Paisov. Russian folklore in the vocal and choral work of Stravinsky.

Early 20s - early 50s – neoclassical period. Stravinsky shows great interest in ancient mythology, biblical stories, European baroque music, to the technique of ancient polyphony. The outstanding works of this period were the opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex (1927), the Symphony of Psalms for choir and orchestra (1930), the ballet with singing Pulcinella (1920), the ballets The Kiss of the Fairy (1928), Orpheus (1947), Second (1940) and Third (1945) symphonies, opera The Rake's Progress (1951).

Mid 1950s - the beginning of the 70s. – late period. In the works of this time, a significant place is occupied by religious themes (“Sacred Chant” (1956); “Chants for the Dead” (1966), etc.), the composer often creates vocal works, uses the dodecaphone technique, a syncretism of style appears.

The work of Igor Stravinsky can rightly be considered innovative: he discovered new approaches to the use of folklore, introduced modern intonations (for example, jazz) into the academic musical fabric, modernized the metro-rhythmic organization, orchestration, and interpretation of genres.

Works by I.F. Stravinsky

operas:"Nightingale" (1908-1914); "Mavra" (1922); "Oedipus Rex" (1927); "The Rake's Adventures" (1951).

ballets : "Firebird" (1910); "Parsley" (1911); "Sacred spring" (1913); "The Tale of the Fox, the Rooster, the Cat and the Sheep" (1917); "Soldier's Story" (1918); "Song of the Nightingale" (1920), "Pulcinella" (1920); "Wedding" (1923); "Apollo Musagete" (1928); "Fairy Kiss" (1928); "Card game" (1937); "Orpheus" (1948 ), "Agon" (1957).

For soloists, choir and orchestra, chamber-instrumental ensemble, choir a sarrella: « Sacred hymn to the glory of the name of St. Brand" (1956); " Threni » (“Lament of the Prophet Jeremiah”, 1958); cantata "Sermon, Parable and Prayer"(1961); « Lamentations » (1966),"Symphony of Psalms" (1930); "Star Banner"(American national anthem, 1941); cantatas and etc.

For chamber orchestra: Three suites from ballet "Firebird"(1919); "Concert Dances" for 24 instruments (1942); "Funeral Ode" (1943) and others.

For instrument with orchestra : Concerts for violin (1931), for piano and wind instruments (1924), for two pianos (1935); "Ebon Concert" for solo clarinet and instrumental ensemble (1945), etc.

Chamber - instrumental ensembles: duo concertant for violin and piano (1931); Brass octet (1923); "Ragtime for 11 Instruments" (1918);Three plays for string quartet (1914); Concertina for string quartet" (1920), etc.

for piano : Scherzo (1902);"Sonatas (1904, 1924); Four studies(1908); "Easy Pieces for Four Hands"(1915); Five Easy Pieces for Four Hands (1917); "Five Fingers" (8 easiest pieces on 5 notes, 1921), etc.

For voice and piano (instrumental ensemble ): "Cloud"(romance to the words of A. Pushkin, 1902); songs to words by S. Gorodetsky, P. Verlaine, K. Balmont (1911), into Russian folk texts; "Three Japanese Poems" ( Russian text by A. Brandt, 1913), "Three Songs" (to the words of W. Shakespeare, 1953) and etc.

Arrangements and transcriptions of compositions : Russian folk songs, musicE. Grieg, L. Beethoven, M. Mussorgsky, J. Sibelius, F. Chopin and others.

The name of Igor Stravinsky is known all over the world. His brilliant musical works are performed in the most different corners earth. Russia, France and the United States have a special attitude towards brilliant composer. He was born in Russia and began his career, and in France he received world fame, and spent his last years in America.

Childhood and youth

Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky was born not far from Petersburg. His father, soloist Mariinsky Theater Fyodor Stravinsky had a dacha in Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov). There, on June 5 (17), 1882, he was born future composer. The Stravinsky family was close to many artists. In addition to actors and musicians, there were writers and journalists in the house. Fyodor Stravinsky was familiar with. At the age of nine, Igor began learning to play the piano, but his studies were limited to private lessons.

Parents sent their son to a private gymnasium Yakov Gurevich, one of the best educational institutions Petersburg of that time. At the age of 19, Stravinsky entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. All this time he continued to study music as an amateur. In 1902-1904 Stravinsky took piano lessons from two outstanding teachers: Vasily Kalafati and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The latter saw an extraordinary talent in the student and, in addition to playing lessons, gave Stravinsky composition lessons.

The first glory of the composer

Rimsky-Korsakov directed the young composer. Under the guidance of the master, Stravinsky wrote his first works. In 1906, classes with Rimsky-Korsakov ceased. Stravinsky never received any more music education. In the same year, the first public performance of his works took place: his suite "Faun and Shepherd Girl" was presented in St. Petersburg. Sergei Diaghilev liked this work very much, who suggested that the young composer write the music for the ballet that Diaghilev planned to stage in Paris. The very first ballet for the Russian seasons - The Firebird - glorified Stravinsky. But the greatest fame, controversial and scandalous, was brought to him by the third ballet for Diaghilev, The Rite of Spring, staged in 1913.

Emigration

When it began, Stravinsky left Russia, as it later turned out forever. In 1915 he settled in France, but the "Russian" period of his work lasted until 1920. his operas The Nightingale, The Story of a Soldier and The Wedding belong to this period. In the 1920s, Stravinsky turned from classical Russian subjects to antique ones. This marked his transition to a "neoclassical" creative period.

The first major work of this period was the opera Mavra, followed by the opera Oedipus Rex and the Symphony of Psalms. hallmark works of this period was not only the composer's orientation to classical subjects, but also the rethinking of classical musical works XVIII century. In 1939 Stravinsky left Europe. He settled in the United States and in 1945 became an American citizen. After the war, he resumed touring around the world, but he visited Russia only once, in 1962.

Late creativity

Beginning in the fifties last period creativity of Stravinsky - "serial". It is distinguished by the active use of serial technology, special kind harmony invented by Austrian composers at the beginning of the 20th century. the greatest work Stravinsky, among those created in serial time, is considered a series of works for choir under the general title "Requiem Canticles" ("Chants for the Dead"). Stravinsky completed his last creations - music to two poems by Hugo Wolf in 1968. Three years later, the composer died (04/06/1971). He was buried in Italy near the grave of Sergei Diaghilev.

Igor Stravinsky is great domestic composer, performer and conductor, bright representative modernism in music. By right, he is considered one of the most significant figures in world art of the 20th century.

Childhood and youth

In 1882, Igor Stravinsky was born near St. Petersburg. His parents were directly related to music - dad Fyodor was a soloist at the Mariinsky Theater and was an honored artist Russian Empire, mother Anna is a pianist, she accompanied her husband. Igor grew up among an endless stream of guests, including writers, artists, musicians. The boy's father was friendly with.

For the first time at the piano, the future genius sat down at the age of 9. After graduating from high school, parents arranged for Igor at the University of St. Petersburg, where the young man studied as a lawyer. Stravinsky studied music on his own, then began to take private lessons from.

Igor owes his acquaintance to his son Vladimir, who also studied law. Rimsky-Korsakov was impressed by Stravinsky's talents and advised him not to enter the conservatory, as the young man had enough knowledge. The mentor mainly taught Igor the skills of orchestration and corrected his works. Thanks to his influence, he ensured that the music of his student was performed.

Music

In 1908, two works by Stravinsky - Faun and Shepherdess and Symphony in E flat major - were performed by the court orchestra. The following year, he got to perform his orchestral scherzo: he was so amazed by the talent of the young composer that he immediately got to know him and ordered several arrangements for the Russian ballet in Paris. A year later, Diaghilev again turns to Stravinsky, ordering musical accompaniment for the new ballet "Firebird".

The premiere took place in the summer of 1910: incredible success instantly turned Stravinsky into the most gifted member of the new generation music authors. The Firebird was the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between Igor and the Diaghilev troupe. The next season already opens with the ballet Petrushka, with a score by Stravinsky and the magnificent Vaslav Nijinsky in the title role.

Inspired by success, the composer decided to write a kind of symphonic ritual, which in 1913 made a lot of noise in the Parisian theater. This work was The Rite of Spring. The audience during the premiere was divided into two camps: some were outraged by the ambiguous dance and bold music, the latter welcomed the original production. Witnesses said that the dancers could not hear the orchestra - such a strong rumble was in the hall.

From that day on, Stravinsky was called the composer of that very “Rite of Spring” and a destructive modernist. Igor leaves his hometown, settles in France in 1910 with his wife and children.

However, the First world war nullified the "Russian Seasons" in Paris, and the generous fees ended. In 1914, the Stravinsky couple ended up in Switzerland with virtually no means of subsistence. In those days, he often turns to Russian folk motifs, fairy tales.

By this time, the music that Stravinsky wrote had become more ascetic, restrained, but incredibly rhythmic. In 1914, he began work on the ballet Les Noces, which he managed to complete only in 1923. It was based on rural Russian songs that were performed at weddings and weddings. In 1920, the last masterpiece work, Symphony for Winds, was written in the Russian style.

After that, the national flavor disappeared from his work, and he began to work in the neoclassical style. Next, the composer interprets the old European music and other interesting historical styles. Since 1924, Igor Stravinsky stopped writing and performed as a pianist and conductor. After World War II, his concerts became very popular.

At the same time, the Russian Seasons resumed, but at a modest level. The last ballet that Diaghilev and Stravinsky created was Apollon Musagete, which premiered in 1928. A year later, Diaghilev dies, and the troupe breaks up.

The year 1926 was a turning point in Stravinsky's fate, he experienced a spiritual transformation, which, of course, had an impact on his work. Religious motifs appear in his "Oedipus Rex", in the cantata "Symphony of Psalms". The librettos for these works are written in Latin. In 1939 he was invited to Harvard University in America, where he read a series of lectures "Musical Poetics".

In the fifties, the avant-garde appeared in Europe, which rejected the neoclassicism beloved by Stravinsky, and Stravinsky experienced musical crisis. The big depression in which Igor was, ended with several experimental works: "Cantata", "In Memory of Dylan Thomas".

He continued to work, despite a stroke, until 1966, latest work became Requiem. This incredibly delicate work, written by the composer at the age of 84, was a testament to Stravinsky's great talent and inexhaustible energy.

Personal life

Igor Stravinsky in 1906 tied the knot with his cousin Ekaterina Nosenko. big love the presence of native blood did not stop the young, 4 children were born in marriage: boys Svyatoslav and Fedor and girls Lyudmila and Milena. The sons became outstanding cultural figures: Svyatoslav - a virtuoso composer and pianist, Fedor - an artist. The biography of Lyudmila Stravinskaya is interesting because she became the wife of the poet Yuri Mandelstam.

Catherine suffered from consumption, so the family went to Switzerland for the winter - the damp air of St. Petersburg did not allow the woman to breathe. In 1914, the Stravinskys did not manage to return from Switzerland to Russia in the spring because of the outbreak of the First World War, and then because of the revolution. Property and money that remained in hometown taken away from the family.

Igor took this catastrophe to heart: in addition to Catherine and the children, he supported his mother, sister and nephews. In Russia, during the months of the revolution, lawlessness was created in all areas, and the composer was no longer paid royalties for the performance of works due to his emigration. In order to somehow support his family, Stravinsky had to release new editions of his works.

Legends and rumors did not bypass Igor's personal life: he is credited with love relationship With . She extended a helping hand to Stravinsky at the moment when he was completely left without money. For two years, Igor and his family lived in Mademoiselle's villa, she sponsored his performances, fed and clothed the family.

When Stravinsky's financial condition improved and he left Chanel's house, she sent him money every month for another 13 years - this unusual fact and became the basis for the legend of the novel between a French designer and a Russian composer. Released in 2009 Feature Film"Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky", dedicated to this relationship.

In 1939, Ekaterina Stravinskaya died, and a year later, having moved to America, the musician married a second time to Vera Sudeikina, a silent film actress. Together, Vera and Igor lived for 50 years, trying not to be separated even for a minute. In 1962 married couple visited home country- in Moscow and Leningrad, the meeting was shown on television.

Death

The composer died on April 6, 1971, the cause of death was heart failure. His wife Vera Arturovna buried him in Venice, in the Russian part of the San Michele cemetery, not far from Diaghilev's grave. After 11 years, the wife will be buried next to her husband.

Stravinsky's name has been repeatedly immortalized: it is worn by the music school in Oranienbaum, a tourist ship and an Aeroflot aircraft. In honor of Stravinsky, an international music festival is held in Ukraine every year.

Discography

• 1906 - "The Faun and the Shepherdess"
• 1908 - "Fantastic scherzo"
• 1910 - ballet "The Firebird"
• 1911 - Ballet "Petrushka"
• 1913 - "The sacred spring, pictures of pagan Russia in 2 parts"
• 1914 - fairy tale "Nightingale"
• 1918 - fairy tale "The Story of a Soldier"
• 1920 - ballet "Pulcinella"
• 1922 - opera "Mavra"
• 1923 - choreographic scenes "Wedding"
• 1927 - opera "Oedipus Rex"
• 1928 - ballet "Apollo Musagete"
• 1930 - "Symphony of Psalms"
• 1931 - Violin Concerto D-dur
• 1942 - Concert Dances
• 1954 - "4 Russian songs"
• 1963 - "Abraham and Isaac"
• 1966 - "Chants for the Dead"