Stravinsky in Context

Explores the cultural, professional and personal contexts that shaped Stravinsky's creativity and formed the backdrop to his acclaimed compositions.

Graham Griffiths (Edited by)

9781108422192, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 December 2020

370 pages, 10 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.73 kg

'The clarity and authority with which its contributions have been written and edited means that Stravinsky in Context will be accessible to a wide range of readers, not least on undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as appealing to intelligent non-specialist audiences.' Philip Ross Bullock, Slavonic and East European Review

Stravinsky in Context offers an alternative to chronological biography. Thirty-five short, specially commissioned essays explore the eventful life-tapestry from which Stravinsky's compositions emerged. The opening chapters draw on new research into the composer's childhood in St. Petersburg. Stravinsky's early, often traumatic upbringing is examined in depth, particularly in the context of his brother Roman's death, and religious sensibilities within the family. Further essays consider Stravinsky's years in exile at the centre of dynamic and ever-evolving cultural environments, the composer constantly refining his idiom and re-defining his aesthetics against a backdrop of world events and personal tragedy. The closing chapters review new material regarding Stravinsky's complicated relationship with the Soviet Union, whilst also anticipating his legacy from the varied perspectives of publishing, research and even - in the iconic example of The Rite of Spring - space exploration. The book includes previously unpublished images of the composer and his family.

Preface
List of Contributors
List of Abbreviations
Part I. Russia and Identity: 1. Memory and truth: Stravinsky's childhood (1882-1901) Catriona Kelly
2. Religion, life and death in St Petersburg Natalia Braginskaya
3. Kashperova and Stravinsky: the making of a concert-pianist Graham Griffiths
4. Reminiscences of Rimsky-Korsakov, his family and artistic circle Lidia Ader
5. Orthodoxies and unorthodoxies: Stravinsky's spiritual journey Ivan Moody
6. The Russian soul Rowan Williams
Part II. Stravinsky and Europe: 7. Sergei Diaghilev and Stravinsky: from world of art to ballets russes John E. Bowlt
8. Paris and the Belle Époque Davinia Caddy
9. Paris, Art Deco, and the spirit of Apollo Jonathan Cross
10. Stravinsky's Spain: fan or mirror? Graham Griffiths
11. 'It is Venice that he loves…' Mauricio Dottori
Part III. Partnerships and Authorship: 12. Stravinsky's sphere of influence: Paris and beyond Inessa Bazayev
13. Stravinsky and his literary collaborators Maureen Carr
14. Assuming co-authorship: Stravinsky and his 'ghost-writers' Valérie Dufour
15. Nadia Boulanger and Stravinsky: the transition to America Kimberly Francis
16. Conversations with Craft Anna Schmidtmann
Part IV. Performance and Performers: 17. Challenges to realism and tradition: Stravinsky's modernist theatre Massimiliano Locanto
18. Igor Stravinsky and ballet as modernism Stephanie Jordan
19. Stravinsky's ear for instruments Chris Dromey
20. Towards a conductor-proof ideal Hannah Baxter
21. The pianist in the recording studio: re-imagining interpretation Daniel Barolsky
22. The legacy of Stravinsky as recorded history Per Dahl
Part V. Aesthetics and Politics: 23. Stravinsky versus literature Emily Frey
24. Stravinsky and Greek antiquity Katerina Levidou
25. Stravinsky's response to 'Japonisme' Mai Ikehara
26. Stravinsky, modernism and mass culture Ross Cole
27. Perspectives on Schoenberg and Stravinsky: Adorno and others Alan Street
28. Stravinsky's 'problematical' political orientation during the 1920s and 1930s Erik Levi
Part VI. Reception and Legacy: 29. The Apollonian clockwork re-wound Elmer Schönberger
30. Stravinsky reception in the USSR Philip Ewell
31. The Stravinsky/Craft conversations in Russian and their reception Olga Manulkina
32. Publishing Stravinsky Nigel Simeone
33.Copyright, the Stravinsky estate, and the Paul Sacher foundation Heidy Zimmermann
34. Evoking the past, inspiring the future Lynne Rogers
35. 'Music is, by its very essence, powerless to express anything at all' Daniel K L Chua
Index.

Subject Areas: Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups [AVH], 20th century & contemporary classical music [AVGC6], Music reviews & criticism [AVC]