Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinskywas a Russian-French-American composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionComposer
Date of Birth17 June 1882
CityLomonosov, Russia
CountryRussian Federation
childhood custodians mercy
When I discovered that I had been made custodian of this gift, in my earliest childhood, I pledged myself to God to be worthy of it, but I have received uncovenanted mercies all my life. The custodian has too often kept faith on his all-too-worldly terms.
confused imagination doe
We have a duty towards music; namely to invent it. ...Invention presupposes imagination but should not be confused with it. For the act of invention implies the necessity of a lucky find and of achieving realization of this find. What we imagine does not necessarily take on concrete form and may remain in a state of virtuality; whereas invention is not conceivable apart from its actually being worked out.
frozen improvisation composition
Composition is frozen improvisation.
duty
We have a duty towards music, namely, to invent it.
silence shame fame
Silence, which will save from shame, will also deprive me of fame.
fashion hot avant-garde
Conformism is so hot on the heels of the mass-produced avant-garde that the 'ins' and the 'outs' change places with the speed of mach 3.
music moving order
Music is given to us specifically to make order of things, to move from an anarchic, individualistic state to a regulated, perfectly concious one, which alone insures vitality and durability.
christian distance church
The further one separates himself from the precepts of the Christian Church, the further one distances himself from the truth. Only God can create. I make music from music.
mediocrity genius stealing
Mediocrity borrows, genius steals.
children animal symphony
Look for the music on all things, and life will be a symphony of joy. My music is best understood by children and animals.
romantic careers classic
Conductors' careers are made for the most part with 'Romantic' music. 'Classic' music eliminates the conductor; we do not remember him in it.
eye waiting shantaram
All you have to do is close your eyes and wait for the symbols.
haste
Hurry? I have no time to hurry.
memories live-by
One lives by memory . . . and not by truth.