Hello, everyone! I’ve just watched a video which is called “A Conversation with Igor Stravinsky” and want to share my impressions with you.
Igor Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century. He first achieved international fame with three ballets — The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913). Answering the question about the peculiarity of Stravinsky’s music, he said that his music was distinct because it had a different dimension in harmony and was based on a new musical technology. The musician went beyond the boundaries of accepted musical forms, making the audience astonished with its diversity each time.
Watching the documentary, I realized that I’d already seen photos of Igor Stravinsky before (probably in school books), but I didn’t remember his name or profession. So, I guess his face is very memorable. I also should admit it was a bit challenging for me to listen to Stravinsky’s accent because it’s unusual and distinct (but only in a good way). Still, I think I’ve understood almost everything of his speech.
I liked the beginning of the interview very much, when Stravinsky was asked to show a little of the process of creating music. Even the interviewer tried to produce some sound together with the musician that was gripping to watch. It was clear that the interviewer was anxious talking to Igor Stravinsky, he couldn’t cope with his nervousness, but the musician’s smile and comfortable atmosphere helped the interviewer to relax closer to the end of the interview.
It was exciting to learn about Stravinsky’s biography. For example, it was surprising that in his childhood, at the age of 7, music lessons seemed to Igor dull, he didn’t really enjoy them and the instruments seemed large and uncomfortable.
On the video we also can see some parts of his house (that nowadays is a museum) which was full of books, papers and pictures. It proves that the musician was very intellegent. He was the person of art.
The question about conducting was rather unexpected. It turned out, Igor Stravinsky believed that all musicians must practice conducting to know how to write music. I’ve never thought about such an idea, but I think it really makes sense — a person should be both a composer and a conductor to get the essence of “right music”.
Upon the whole, I found the documentary useful and I’d like to finish my entry with the definition of music according to Igor Stravinsky: “Music is an organization of tones, an act of human mind”. The musician added that he also liked the phase of a great philosopher which is as follows: “…the musical tones inhabit and form a universe of their own and white the human mind as created the materials introduced them to order”.
