Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer who revolutionized twentieth-century music.
His early ballets—*The Firebird*, *Petrushka*, and especially *The Rite of Spring* (1913)—shocked audiences with their rhythmic violence and dissonance.
He later adopted neoclassical and serial techniques, remaining influential across six decades.
Stravinsky became an American citizen in 1945 and is considered one of the most important composers in Western music history.
Idealization of pre-modern life
- neoclassicismMovement emulating antiquity's forms
- serialismFixed-sequence composition technique
- polytonalityConcurrent musical key centers
- dissonanceLack of harmony
polyrhythm · orchestration · atonality · ostinato · modernism · avant-garde · twelve-tone
Pioneering twentieth-century dance company
- NijinskyBallet's gravity defier
- choreographyDesigning performance movement sequences
- premiereFirst public performance
- ParisFrance's chief city
corps de ballet · libretto · stage design · scandal · riot · dance notation · collaboration · impresario
Alpine republic, perpetually neutral
- FranceWestern European republic
- HollywoodAmerican film industry center
- Los AngelesSouthern California metropolis
- VeniceLagoon city, northeastern Italy
citizenship · naturalization · emigration · conductor · pianist · recording artist · lecturer · memoir
Magical burning bird
- ApolloSun deity, moonshot namesake
- OrpheusLegendary Greek musician
- Oedipus RexAncient drama of prophecy fulfilled
- PersephoneGreek underworld queen
Major Russian Baltic port
- Russian folk musicTraditional Slavic musical heritage
- émigréOne who left home
- exileBanishment from homeland
- SlavicOf certain Eastern Europeans
Rimsky-Korsakov · homeland · Russian Revolution · Tchaikovsky · folklore · Cyrillic · motherland
French impressionist composer
- SchoenbergAtonal method inventor
- ProkofievTwentieth-century Russian composer
- CoplandBrooklyn-born classical composer
- PicassoSpanish cubism co-founder
Ravel · Auden · T.S. Eliot · Shostakovich · Dylan Thomas
primitivism
Idealization of pre-modern life
- neoclassicismMovement emulating antiquity's forms
- serialismFixed-sequence composition technique
- polytonalityConcurrent musical key centers
dissonance · polyrhythm · orchestration · atonality · ostinato · modernism · avant-garde · twelve-tone
Ballets Russes
Pioneering twentieth-century dance company
- NijinskyBallet's gravity defier
- choreographyDesigning performance movement sequences
- premiereFirst public performance
Paris · corps de ballet · libretto · stage design · scandal · riot · dance notation · collaboration · impresario
Switzerland
Alpine republic, perpetually neutral
- FranceWestern European republic
- HollywoodAmerican film industry center
- Los AngelesSouthern California metropolis
Venice · citizenship · naturalization · emigration · conductor · pianist · recording artist · lecturer · memoir · autobiography
The Firebird
Magical burning bird
- ApolloSun deity, moonshot namesake
- OrpheusLegendary Greek musician
- Oedipus RexAncient drama of prophecy fulfilled
Saint Petersburg
Major Russian Baltic port
- Russian folk musicTraditional Slavic musical heritage
- émigréOne who left home
- exileBanishment from homeland
Rimsky-Korsakov · Slavic · homeland · Russian Revolution · Tchaikovsky · folklore · Cyrillic · motherland
Debussy
French impressionist composer
- SchoenbergAtonal method inventor
- ProkofievTwentieth-century Russian composer
- CoplandBrooklyn-born classical composer
Ravel · Picasso · Auden · T.S. Eliot · Shostakovich · Dylan Thomas
Igor StravinskyEdward Elgar
Igor StravinskyGiacomo Puccini