Igor Stravinsky Research Paper

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840 in Vyatka, Russia, and was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. He composed many different types of works, including symphonies, operas, ballets, instrumental and chamber music,

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7th, 1840 in Kamsko-Votkinsk. His father, Ilya Petrovich, was a mining engineer and Chief Inspector of the metal works and his mother was Alexandra Tchaikovsky. It was from her that Tchaikovsky inherited his depressed personality. Tchaikovsky developed his love of music from listening to tunes from Italian operas played on the family’s orchestrion – a mechanical barrel-organ which roughly reproduced musical sounds. In September 1844, Tchaikovsky’s mother was visiting St. Petersburg when her husband proudly reported that Tchaikovsky and his sister, Sasha, had written a song called, “Our Mama in Petersburg.”

1 as his graduation piece at the Petrograd Conservatory. He would go on to compose 15 symphonies, along with numerous operas, quartets, and ballets. Shostakovich would come to be known worldwide as one of the most significant composers of classical music in the 20th century. However, the path was not easy for Shostakovich. In fact, it has been said that nobody suffered more for their music than Dmitri Shostakovich did, and that he and his family were “under constant threat of arrest, exile, or worse.”

Frederic Chopin was a well known Polish pianist born in 1810, and died in 1849 (Libbey). He wrote countless pieces, mazurkas, concertos, preludes, nocturnes, polonaises, and sonatas. Almost all the pieces he composed were just for the piano. He had his own unique style that can be described as poetic and lyrical (Hamilton). His songs could be light and almost dream like and yet dark and filled with emotion at the same time (Bellman). Known as "The Poet of the Piano", he is still considered one of the most important composers from the Romantic period, and it has been said that no one could understood the piano quite like him (Bellman).

Igor Stravinsky was born on June, 5 1882. His full name is Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky. He has won three grammy awards. Since a very young age Igor has had a very strong musical influence. His father the leading Russian operatic basses. It took Stravinsky a rather long time to discover his musical abilities because his parents wanted him to be a lawyer and not follow in their footsteps. Stravinsky got a chance to show Rimsky-Korsakov some of his music he wrote because he attended law school with his son. Rimsky-Korsakov was really impressed and decided to take him as a private pupil. Rimsky-Korsakov used some of Stravinsky's pieces to present in front of classes and used it in “The Symphony of E flat major.” When Rimsky-Korsakov

Igor Stravinsky was introduce to music at an early age. His father was a bass singer in the local opera house (White 3). He loved music since he was a baby. According to white he could frequently hear his father, two room from his nursery practicing for a role (white). Even though his father made a career out of music,

Sofiya Vasilievna Kokoulina, both the parents of Shostakovich. Shostakovich had taken the name of his father, as his full name is Dmitri Shostakovich. In 1926, Shostakovich’s career was launched, making him one of the young soviet composers. “No doubt he was the golden child of the soviet union,” most would say.

sonata writing and set him on orchestration exercise. Lately, Stravinsky spent more time on mu-sic instead of the law. His two orchestral works composed in February 1909 and Diaghilev who gave Stravinsky inspiration for his “Firework” composition.

In the year 1810, on the day of March 1st, right in the middle of Poland, Frederic Chopin was born in a quaint little town called Zelazowa Wola. His father by the name of Nicholas Chopin, and his mother by the name of Tekla Krzyzanowska. His father was originally from Lorraine, France, and was skilled with flute and violin. From this Frederic Chopin received (most likely) his interest with music. Frederic Chopin had 3 siblings, all sisters: Ludwika, Izabela and Emilia. Ludwika gave Frederic his first piano lessons. Frederic’s family made their way to Warsaw right after he was born.

The very first thing I read about this man, Fryderyk Chopin, was “he was the first important nineteenth-century composer to achieve fame as performing pianist since Beethoven” (Yudkin). To be compared to or even included in the same sentence as Beethoven is an accomplishment every composer should strive for, and this is prime example showing just how well-crafted Chopin’s works were.

Let me next briefly discuss Smerdyakov. He is the twisted and corrupt counterpart to Ivan. For Ivan much of his theories and philosophies are simply exercises in logic, in though, but don't impact the world he lives in. He is free to think and theorize about anything and everything but for Smerdyakov, the ideas that Ivan expounds do in fact touch the real world, the day to day life. He takes the theories and applies them to life. If there is no God then anything and everything is legal, even murder. It is Smerdyakov who takes Ivan's ideas and lives out the true Machiavellian-Hobbsian vision and who anticipates Nietzsche. He is the realization of all that Ivan has taught and when Ivan realizes it he is crushed and accepts at least in some part

Nabokov’s writings in entomology are highly technical. His enthusiasm in the field had been initiated by books that he read in the attic of the country home of Vyra. He joined butterfly-collection trip annually and even commented: “The pleasures and rewards of literary inspiration are nothing beside the rapture of discovering a new organ under the microscope or an undescribed species on a mountainside in Iran or Peru. It is not improbable that had there been no revolution in Russia, I would have devoted myself entirely to lepidopterology and never written any novels at all.” Nabokov was a through taxonomist. He observed samples under a microscope days and nights, to the extent that his eyesight was permanently impaired. Although his work was

Stravinsky’s chance to work at a new style came after his second major work, the Scherzo Fantastique. Sergei

The composer met a plethora of people who greatly helped him in his musical creations. He started being trained by Rimsky-Korsakov until 1908, and gradually became his confidant, friend and son. Stravinsky then encountered Diaghlev, a brilliant individual who rallied for young artists, With Diaghlev’s help Stravinsky greatly advanced and his reputation changed overnight. Later in life, the composer befriended an American composer Robert Craft, who helped him out of his depression during World War II and transformed his style into serial music, more fitted for the era. Throughout the course of his life, Igor Stravinsky met with numerous people who aided him in his creative career. On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi mainly relied on himself and his own experience to construct Satyagraha. Even though he had some help from his students, such as Rajchandra, Gandhi was guided by his internal thoughts to make a decision. He took control of his life as much as possible. In his social circle, he was considered a confident and decisive authoritarian. As distinct as the field of politics and music are, it is impossible to assess whether Stravinsky’s outward reach for support or Gandhi’s solitary process is better than the other. However, it is undoubted that both process worked perfectly for the two creators. For Stravinsky, without his voluntary outreach that helped him build his reputation among the best composers in the world. In Gandhi’s case, his state of solitude created an environment for him to incubate the ideas that made his movement

All art, including music, is directly influenced by the environment in which the artist lives. It is impossible to create art in a vacuum, unaffected by the society and events surrounding you. The time period, location, and social changes and innovations can have a direct effect on the art produced. Political events, especially wars, can have a strong influence on the music and art produced at that time. For example, music may become more patriotic during a time of war as the composers strive to publicize their national pride. I will explore this idea through the composer Igor Stravinsky and his three most famous ballets in terms of music and choreography. Since I have a retrospective perspective, I will be able to analyze the situation