Watch and Listen
Understanding the Music: Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring
Understanding the Music: Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring in premiere : The world premiere of Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring
Upcoming Performances
Young Concert Artists Series: Noé Inui, violin - Feb 22, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Cantate Chamber Singers presents: Choral Tours de Force - Apr 24, 2010 at 7:30 PM
NSO: John Adams, conductor/Leila Josefowicz, violin - May 20 - 22, 2010
NSO: Iván Fischer, conductor/Stravinsky & Rimsky-Korsakov - Jun 3 - 5, 2010
Additional Resources
Review - "NSO Musicians Dampen 'Pastorale,' Soar on 'Firebird'": The Washington Post - Washington, DC (Apr. 21, 2006)
"It is probably frivolous to speak of a "favorite" Beethoven symphony: One might as well try to choose the "best" ocean. Yet the Symphony No. 6 ("Pastorale"), which began the National Symphony Orchestra's concert last night at the Kennedy Center, is suffused with a serene radiance quite unlike anything else in the composer's repertory."
"It is probably frivolous to speak of a "favorite" Beethoven symphony: One might as well try to choose the "best" ocean. Yet the Symphony No. 6 ("Pastorale"), which began the National Symphony Orchestra's concert last night at the Kennedy Center, is suffused with a serene radiance quite unlike anything else in the composer's repertory."
Biography of Igor Stravinsky
About the Artist
A Russian-American composer, born in 1882, Igor Stravinsky was worldly known as the greatest composer of the 20th century. His contributions to music were wide and varied. He studied music with Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov from 1903 to 1906. He got famous on his performances, while commissioned with the impresario, Sergey Diaghilev. In 1939 he moved to United States of America and became a US citizen in 1945.Stravinsky’s ballet score, The Firebird (1910) was a huge success in Paris Opera, followed by Petrushka, performed during the Ballets Russes (1911) in Paris. Another outstanding work is The Rite of Spring which was a dynamic masterpiece. He worked on various pieces of ballet music, including piano piece by Frédéric Chopin for Les Sylphides. The Nightingale and The Soldier's Tale (1918) were some of his compositions while on exile in Switzerland during the War. In France, he diverted to neoclassical style and composed Oedipus Rex (1927) and the Symphony of Psalms (1930). His renewed tie with Diaghilev, resulted to his arrangement of Pulcinella (1920) and Apollo Musagetes (1928). From 1923-1935, he composed piano and wind instruments pieces.
The Rake's Progress (1948-51), Canticum Sacrum (1955) and the ballet Agon (1953-57) were larger scale works, where music moves from a modal and tonal beginning into a full serial score. After his work on Requiem Canticles (1966), a work as famous as his masterpieces and neo-classicals, his health failed. He died in 1971 and was buried in Venice.
