jmc's classics
Today is the birthday of Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). He was a Russian composer. He died in Italy. Like many Russians-including artists and scientists he left Russia after the revolution. Actually some list his birthday as on June 17, because the Russians and other Slavic people use the Julian Calendar which is 13 days behind. He came from a musical family. His works and be divided in to three periods: The Russian Period from 1913-1920, Neoclassical 1920-51 and serial perio from 1954-68. It looks like he did not have any output between 1951-54.
He wrote music for all genres of music. Like most Russians he was a member of the Russian Orthodox Church. Like Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, he did write some church music. He even wrote a setting for the Catholic mass. One of his choral compositions was "A Symphony of Psalms" using texts from Psalms"38, 39 and 140". He is mainly remembered for his ballets Rite of Spring, The Firebird and Petrushka. The Rite of Spring was considered to be revolutionary for its time and caused riots among the audience at its premier in 1913. It is based on Pagan myths. The Firebird is based on Russian and Slavic ferry tails and involves a mythical firebird. Petrushka is about a puppet that comes to life. In addition to thy Symphony of Psalms he wrote Symphony in E- Flat (Opus#1) dating from 1907, Symphony in C from 1940 and Symphony in Three Movements from 1945. Among his other famous works were his concerto in E-Flat called Dumbarton Oaks. Named for the estate of Washington DC Philanthropists Robert and Mildred Bliss. This work has comes from his neoclassical period and was inspired by J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. I have heard some of his music performed live and I do have some CDs of his music. Stravinsky did meet president Kennedy. He died in 1971 in Italy.
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