Stravinsky in Context

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 The book includes previously unpublished images of the composer and his family.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.

Graham Griffiths is an Honorary Research Fellow at City, University of London and a member of the editorial board of the St Petersburg Conservatoire. His publications include Stravinsky's Piano: Genesis of a Musical Language (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and he is a contributor to British Post-Graduate Musicology-online (2005), Abécédaire Stravinsky (2018) and The Cambridge Stravinsky Encyclopedia (2020). He was Founder/director of the contemporary music ensemble Grupo Novo Horizonte de Sao Paulo (1989-99) and Vice-President, Sociedade Brasileira de Musicologia (1995-97). He is editor of the Kashperova Edition (Boosey & Hawkes).