IGOR

STRAVINSKY
BY: SARAH TYCHINSKI
EARLY LIFE

• Igor Stravinsky was born in the town of

Oranienbaum in Russia on June 17,
1882. He was raised in St. Petersburg by
his father Fydor, who was a bass in a
choir and a pianist and his mother Anna.
Stravinsky studied law after he was
graduated secondary school because his
parents didn’t want him to follow in
their footsteps. When his father died in
1902, he was granted permission to
peruse his career in music.
MID-LIFE:

• In 1906, Igor married Catherine Nossenko and had four children with her. Soon after, Sergi
Diaghilev invited Igor to orchestrate some of Chopin’s pieces. The ballet “Firebird” turned
Stravinsky into an household name in June 1910. When WWI broke out Stravinsky moved him
and his family to Switzerland. He was homesick so he used Russian Inspiration in his pieces. His
two pieces from his Swiss period were “Renard” and “Les Nos”. In 1920, Stravinsky moved his
family to France. Where they had lived for two decades. His French works are “Maura” and
“Oedipusrex”.
LATE LIFE:

• Stravinsky lost his wife and one daughter from

tuberculosis. He gave lectures at Harvard and married
Vera de Bossett in 1940. He also finished one of his
greatest works “Symphony in C”. In 1944, he almost was
arrested for rearranging the national anthem in Boston.
He was kept for several days in prision. He became a U.S.
citizen in 1945m, while setteling in LA. ON April 6 1971,
Stravinsky had died at age 88 in his Manhatten apartment
because of a failure in his health.
ERA AND GENRE:

• He was apart of the Russian, Neoclassical, • Neoclassicism, which is “Composers

and Serial Era. sought out to return to aesthetic precepts
• Type of Instrument associated with the broadly defined
concept of “Classicism”.
– Piano- and acoustic stringed instrument
where metal strings are struck by
hammers when the keys are pressed
down.
WHY WAS HE SO
IMPORTANT?
• He was known as the greatest composer of the 20th
century. His gift were very broad and diverse. He got
famous for his ballet compositions as well.
WHY WAS HE
SO UNIQUE?

• He composed in many
different styles of Music
including ballets, choral,
chamber music, and
operas.
VIDEOS

• https://youtu.be/C3s_CbOjiiA
• https://youtu.be/5tGA6bpscj8?t=19
WEBSITES USED

• Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky - Conductor, Songwriter, Pianist – Biography

• Igor Stravinsky
• https://wmich.edu/mus-gened/mus150/CB-Stravinsky
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Igor-Stravinsky