Focus on: Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky was one of the most revolutionary musicians of the beginning of the 20th century, and one of main composers of the Ballets Russes. This article focuses on his life, with a particular emphasis on his relationship with the Ballets Russes.

The composer’s debuts

Igor Stravinsky was born in 1882 near St-Petersburg. His father worked at the imperial opera and his mother was an excellent pianist. Stravinsky grew up in an artistic family, in a cultural atmosphere which would inspire him later. He was into music starting at an early age, he during his holidays in the countryside he heard Russian peasants song which inspired his first compositions. He started to learn the piano at the age of 9 years old, however his parents didn’t want their son to become a composer, so he studied law. At university he met the composer Rimsky-Korsakov, to which he presented his compositions. Rimsky-Korsakov immediately recognized Stravinsky’s talent.

The Ballets Russes and the fame

He rose to fame thanks to his composition for the Russian ballets in the early 1900s. Serge Diaghilev loved his compositions and asked him to write for his company in 1909. In 1910 he composed The Firebird which was a triumph, Stravinsky was 28 years old. Thanks to his friendship with Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel he became integrated in the Parisian artistic society, meeting Picasso, Braque and Cocteau. His triumph with the Ballets Russes continued with a second ballet, Petrouchka.

The Rite of Spring, an artistic revolution

In 1913,a The Rite of Spring caused a sensation. The particular choreography of Nijinsky and the avant-garde music made the ballet a scandal. The piece eventually became one of the most influential work of the 20th century, better known for its music rather than the ballet. Igor Stravinsky was an unknown Russian composer when Diaghilev asked him to work for the Russian ballets. After the success of The Firebird in 1910, Petrushka in 1911 and the sensation of the Rite of Spring Stravinsky achieved international fame.

The last years

With the war, the Russian ballets are interrupted, Stravinsky is exiled in Switzerland. He worked on two operas for Diaghilev before leaving for the United States in 1925. He emigrated to Los Angeles in 1940. In 1962 he is invited by the USSR for his 80th birthday, he is back after 48 years of exile. He passed away in 1971 in New York.