Image Source: Wikipedia

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (17 June [O.S. 5 June] 1882 – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with citizenship in France (from 1934) and the United States (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century and a pivotal figure in modernist music.

Stravinsky's father was an established bass opera singer, and Stravinsky grew up taking piano and music theory lessons. While studying law at the University of Saint Petersburg, he met Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and studied under him until Rimsky-Korsakov's death in 1908. Stravinsky met the impresario Sergei Diaghilev soon after, who commissioned Stravinsky to write three ballets: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913), the last of which brought him international fame after the near-riot at the premiere, and changed the way composers understood rhythmic structure.

Stravinsky's compositional career is divided into three periods: his Russian period (1913–1920), his neoclassical period (1920–1951), and his serial period (1954–1968). Stravinsky's Russian period was characterised by influence from Russian styles and folklore. Renard (1916) and Les noces (1923) were based on Russian folk poetry, and works like L'Histoire du soldat blended these folktales with popular musical structures, like the tango, waltz, rag, and chorale. His neoclassical period exhibited themes and techniques from the classical period, like the use of the sonata form in his Octet (1923) and use of Greek mythological themes in works like Apollon musagète (1927), Oedipus rex (1927), and Persephone (1935). In his serial period, Stravinsky turned towards compositional techniques from the Second Viennese School like Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique. In Memoriam Dylan Thomas (1954) was the first of his compositions to be fully based on the technique, and Canticum Sacrum (1956) was his first to be based on a tone row. Stravinsky's last major work was the Requiem Canticles (1966), which was performed at his funeral.

While some composers and academics of the time disliked the avant-garde nature of Stravinsky's music, particularly The Rite of Spring, later writers recognized his importance to the development of modernist music. Stravinsky's revolutions of rhythm and modernism influenced composers like Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Béla Bartók, and Pierre Boulez, all of whom "felt impelled to face the challenges set by [The Rite of Spring]," as George Benjamin wrote in The Guardian. In 1998, Time magazine named Stravinsky one of the 100 most influential people of the century. Stravinsky died of pulmonary edema on 6 April 1971 in New York City.

Birth and Death Data: Born June 18, 1882 (Lomonosov), Died April 6, 1971 (New York City)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1916 - 1940

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, conductor, piano, arranger

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 26-50 of 97 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor CS-92865 12-in. 10/28/1935 The fire-bird—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-92866 12-in. 10/28/1935 The fire-bird—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-92867 12-in. 10/28/1935 The fire-bird : Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-92868 12-in. 10/28/1935 The fire-bird—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-92869 12-in. 10/28/1935 The fire-bird—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-92870 12-in. 10/28/1935 The fire-bird—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor C-[Unnumbered 1924-10-13-01] 12-in. 10/13/1924 L'oiseau de feu, part 5 Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-07588 12-in. 4/19/1937 Pétrouchka—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-07589 12-in. 4/19/1937 Pétrouchka—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-07590 12-in. 4/19/1937 Pétrouchka—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-07591 12-in. 4/19/1937 Pétrouchka—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-07592 12-in. 4/19/1937 Pétrouchka—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-07593 12-in. 4/19/1937 Pétrouchka—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-07594 12-in. 4/19/1937 Pétrouchka—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-07595 12-in. 4/19/1937 Pétrouchka—Suite Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CS-030404 12-in. 12/3/1938 Song of the Volga boatmen Boston Symphony Orchestra ; Serge Koussevitzky Orchestra arranger  
Victor BS-042695 10-in. 9/15/1939 Russian dance Pierre Luboshutz ; Genia Nemenoff Piano duet composer  
Victor CS-043916 12-in. 11/24/1939 O, could I but express in song Celius Dougherty ; Alexander Kipnis Bass vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia 6797 12-in. approximately 1916 Firebird suite from ballet, part 1 Beecham Symphony Orchestra ; Thomas Beecham Orchestra composer  
Columbia 6799 12-in. approximately 1916 Firebird suite from ballet, part 2 Beecham Symphony Orchestra ; Thomas Beecham Orchestra composer  
Brunswick 15131-15133 10-in. 3/11/1925 Les cinq doigts Igor Stravinsky Piano solo instrumentalist, piano, composer  
Brunswick 15134-15136 10-in. 3/12/1925 Les cinq doigts Igor Stravinsky Piano solo instrumentalist, piano, composer  
Brunswick 15137-15139 10-in. 3/12/1925 Trois pièces faciles : Valse Igor Stravinsky Piano solo instrumentalist, piano, composer  
Brunswick 15140-15143 10-in. 3/12/1925 Trois pièces faciles Igor Stravinsky Piano solo instrumentalist, piano, composer  
Gramophone Cc4013 12-in. 12/21/1923 Petrouchka : Ballet music Eugene Goossens ; Royal Albert Hall Orchestra Orchestra composer  
(Results 26-50 of 97 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Stravinsky, Igor," accessed November 6, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/100018.

Stravinsky, Igor. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 6, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/100018.

"Stravinsky, Igor." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 6 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/100018

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Feedback

Send the Editors a message about this record.