Igor Stravinsky Research Paper

The first of Igor Stravinsky's three famous early ballets, The Firebird is the most traditional and derivative. While The Firebird, similar to Petrushka and The Rite Of Spring, is unquestionably one of Stravinsky's masterpieces, if considered strictly historically it can be, with some justice, viewed as warmed-over Rimsky-Korsakov (the device of contrasting a folkloristic, diatonic style representing human characters, with a highly chromatic style reserved for depicting the supernatural had its most conspicuous use in Rimsky's

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the author of six symphonies and the finest and most popular operas in the Russian repertory. Tchaikovsky was also one of the founders of the school of Russian music. He was a brilliant composer with a creative imagination that helped his career throughout many years. He was completely attached to his art. His life and art were inseparably woven together. "I literally cannot live without working," Tchaikovsky once wrote, "for as soon as one piece of work is finished and one would wish to relax, I desire to tackle some new work without delay." The purpose of this paper is to give you a background concerning Tchaikovsky's biography, as well as to discuss his various works of

Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” and Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring “ are two of the most influential ballets to ever be recorded. Their ballets have been played and duplicated for many years. I will start this paper with a summary of each composer which will include where they are from culturally, geographically and musically. Then I talk about each ballet. Where it was written, the story behind each piece, and its reception now and its reception at the time it was published. I will also include the popularity of each ballet in other forms such as Disney. Finally, I will provide a detailed concert report of each ballet.

To begin, The Rite of Spring was composed by Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky was born in 1882 near St. Petersburg, Russia. As a Russian-born composer, his music had “a revolutionary impact on musical thought and sensibility just before and after World War I, and his compositions remained a touchstone of modernism for much of his long working life” (Taruskin; White). According to Wikipedia, he is considered one of the most important and

Born Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich on the 25th September, 1906, in St. Petersburg, Russia, the composer began his descent into classical music at the age of 9, before later moving on to study at the Petrograd conservatory. Throughout his life he compiled 15 symphonies, 15 string quartets and 36 film scores as well as many other compositions. Within his musical work and the course of his career Shostakovich managed to both adhere to traditions set within classical music as well as dissent from them, I will be exploring these.

Igor Stravinsky was third of a family of four boys. He grew up hearing his father practicing his opera and attending local ballets. He also started taking piano lessons when he was 9 years old and continued on with musical notation and composition instruction. All throughout his early life he studied music. However, although he had been brought

Dmitri Shostakovich was born in 1906 and showed an aptitude for music at a young age. In 1919, he enrolled in the Petrograd Conservatory where his abilities mesmerized the head of the institution, Alexander Glazunov. Shostakovich was never politically naïve; he imitated his parent’s ideals who initially

Once being presented with this opportunity to write this paper I found it as a wonderful opportunity to express my opinion on two different musical greats. The one that I decided to choose for the old would have to be Tchaikovsky, and for the new by far my favorite choice would be the beetles. The selection of these two specific artist was almost a no brainer for me, they embody the perfect blend of inspirational music that delivers a specific, yet powerful message, both artist belong to different genres one from a classical genre and one from a more modern form of music.Also, both these artists viewed music regardless of the genre as a form of communicating a message to the masses, in the beetles era war was occurring in the world and in terms of Tchaikovsky he was one of the best ballet composers of his

Debussy, at the age of eighteen, was sponsored by Madame Nadejda von Meck, who was also the patroness of Tchaikovsky. However, Madame von Meck permitted Debussy to Travel with her and her family, unlike her arrangement with Tchaikovsky. Although this encouraged his career, it made him have an expensive taste the rest of his life, forcing him to never be in a financially safe place. Stravinsky achieved fame through his teacher and friend, Rimsky-Korsakov, who arranged for some of Stravinsky's music to be played. Diaghilev, who worked for the Russian Ballet Company, heard the music and commissioned Stravinsky to write an original ballet. Stravinsky found inspiration in old legends, creating the The Firebird. A few years later, Stravinsky wrote one of his most famous works, The Rite of Spring. This ballet caused a riot, partly because of the strange music, including a very high bassoon piece, but Stravinsky put all the blame on the choreographer, Nijinsky. Despite the controversy over his music, or perhaps because of it, Stravinsky rapidly became a known name in the music world. Although the ways in which the two became famous were different, they both greatly influenced classical music of the twentieth

He remained a clerk for three years. He hated his job but he worked feverishly at it for he worked hard at every task he was given. He continued to be drawn into the music world and he took piano and theory lessons. Finally, in 1862, he quit his job and devoted the rest of his life to music which he began by entering the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He graduated with a silver medal in 1865. After graduation he was unsure of what to do until 1866 when Nicholas Rubenstein offered him the job of professor of harmony at the newly formed Moscow Conservatory. It was here that he wrote his first serious works which included AA Festival Overture on the Danish National Hymn,@ his First Symphony in G AWinter Daydreams,@ and his first opera AThe Voyevode.@ Showing his desire for perfection he tore up the opera because he was dissatisfied with it and it wasn=t until 1949 that it was revived.5

The music of Stravinsky has always been “ahead of time” in the way of using new and different ways of presenting music. His early ballets such as Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring being a great example of his modernism and will to compose music which is both innovative and shocking. For this essay I have chosen to write about The Firebird (1910) and The Rite of Spring (1913). Firebird was Stravinsky’s first Ballet and his first composition that reached many people because of its modernism and exoticism. The Rite of Spring is still renowned for its portrayal of primitivism, a concept that was accentuated by the riot that happened at its premiere.

At 1889, he attended the Paris International Exposition, where he discovered the wondrous colours of Asian music that picked up his interest. He was also fascinated by the pieces composed by the Russian composers Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin, therefore he was lured in to the folk music of Russia soon after.

From September of 1850 to May of 1859, Tchaikovsky attended the School of Jurisprudence. At this boarding school in St. Petersburg, he received an excellent education and further pursued his interest in music. During this time,

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer born on May 7th, 1840. The majority of Tchaikovsky’s life was dedicated to his music. At the age of four years old, Tchaikovsky composed his very first song and began to play the piano without the help of sheet music. Tchaikovsky continued to pursue his musical career and started taking compositions lessons from the great Anton Rubinstein. Although Tchaikovsky pursued a musical career early in life, his first job was a government clerk. Needless to say, Tchaikovsky did not like that job and he was reassured that music was for him. Tchaikovsky decided to leave his job and attend a new music school located in St. Petersburg, Russia. Although Tchaikovsky’s teachers and peers had much faith in his

She was the widow of a wealthy railroad tycoon and a great admirer of his work. She provided him with a monthly allowance allowing him to focus solely on his work as a composer. The two never met in person but they did write each other and exchanged their views on many different subjects (Poznansky, “Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky”). With this newfound freedom he was able to travel throughout Europe and America. This freedom allowed him to find the creativity he needed for his music (Wright,