Igor Stravinsky
Quiz Yourself About the Life and Music of
Igor Stravinsky
3.
What is considered to be Stravinsky’s first masterpiece?
Stravinsky’s first masterpiece was his tour-de-force 1910 ballet The Firebird. The work was a colossal success and launched Stravinsky’s career as an international figure. Critical reception was generally very positive:
Rachmaninoff: “Great God! What a work of genius this is! This is true Russia!”
Myaskovsky: “What a wealth of invention, how much intelligence, temperament, talent, what a remarkable, what a rare piece of work this is.”
However:
Debussy: “What do you expect? One has to start somewhere.”
Richard Strauss: “It’s always interesting to hear one’s imitators.”
Prokofiev: “There was no music in the ballet’s introduction and if there was any, it was from (Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera) Sadko.”
A French critic reported his experience of hearing Stravinsky play through his work-in-progress in Saint Petersburg: “The composer, young, slim, and uncommunicative, with vague meditative eyes, and lips set firm in an energetic looking face, was at the piano. But the moment he began to play, the modest and dimly lit dwelling glowed with a dazzling radiance. By the end of the first scene, I was conquered: by the last, I was lost in admiration. The manuscript on the music-rest, scored over with fine pencilings, revealed a masterpiece.” Not too bad for a 28-year-old composer!
Costume sketch for the titular Firebird, by Léon Bakst, 1910
Stravinsky at the time of The Firebird (1910)
4.
Which composers had a very strong influence on the music of Stravinsky?