Igor Stravinsky (EE-gore stra-VIN-skee)

Born June 17, 1882

Died April 6, 1971

Nationality: Russian

Period/Style: Modern

About the composer:

Stravinsky loved music from a very early age.  His father was a leading bass at the St. Petersburg Opera and Igor loved to spend hours looking through his father's score library.  His parents insisted that he go to school to learn the basic academic subjects, and he eventually entered law school.  His love of music was always with him and always pulled at him.  He didn't think that he was good enough to be a composer until, when he was on vacation in 1902, he met another famous composer.  The composer's name was Rimksky-Korsakov and, although he told Stravinsky to keep studying law, he encouraged him to find out more about harmony and counterpoint, two fundamental elements of composition.  The more he learned, the more fascinated he became and finally gave up law altogether.  From that point on, he composed many well-known pieces that are still played today.

About the music:

Suite from "The Firebird" Ballet (20-30 min)

The Firebird is one of three ballets written by Stravinsky.  Although the famous Russian ballet master, Serge Diaghilev had offered the job of writing the music for this ballet to someone else, that person was too slow at getting the job done and Stravinsky was hired.  The subject of the ballet is an old Russian legend about the Fire-Bird.

Suggested activities:

Learn about this Russian legend and discover the role of the Magic Horse.

Read about the other ballets written by Stravinsky and discover which one caused a riot at its opening performance.