Igor Stravinsky Biography

Stravinsky Having come from a Russian background, Stravinsky 's main purpose in his music was to surprise and sometimes even appall his audience. His music occasionally caused rioting, but he just gave it some time and eventually the people came to appreciate his extraordinary music. Stravinsky 's pieces are Neoclassical, which means they are alteration of the classical music style. Much of his music was based off of old Russian or French traditions. Igor Stravinsky was born in Russia in 1882 to a successful family of musicians. Stravinsky 's father was a professional bass singer, and his mother was a talented pianist. Unfortunately, knowing how difficult the music life was, Stravinsky 's parents preferred he study law

Despite being unpatriotic, Stravinsky wrote some wonderful pieces of music based on many different cultures. Though he 's considered to be a Neoclassical artist, his works included Russian folklore-based music, jazz, 30 's American-commissioned pieces, and 40 's Russian and French traditions. Stravinsky was seen as very versatile, and had many contradicting styles. His first piece, The Firebird, consisted of comlex rhythms and dissonance that had never before been tried in public. The energy in his music impressed his audience, so he moved on to even more shocking experiments. In 1911 Stravinsky wrote a score for the performance of Petrushka, which included an impish puppet. He used clashing harmonies and playful notes to suggest a nose-thumbing. His audience was delighted. But he didn 't stop there. One of the most famous events in history surrounded Stravinsky 's next piece, The Rite of Spring. Explained as "scenes of pagan Russia," Stravinsky 's music depicted the violent ritual o a young girl being sacrificed to the god of spring. (We can see where Stravinsky 's religious beliefs laid.) His audience was outraged. The stormed the theater in riot form, and Stravinsky, terrified, joined the riot against himself (although it is said some leading Parisian artists such as Debussy still appreciated this piece.) A year later, when the same piece was performed, Stravinsky was applauded. The just goes to show how influential Stravinsky was. He was one of the most influential composers of the 20th Century, with all music after that either embracing or