Great Masters: Stravinsky - His Life and Music
course no. 754
Taught By Professor Robert Greenberg, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley,
San Francisco Performances
TTC Video
English | AVI | XviD | 640x480 | PDF | MP3, 160 kbps | ~8x45 min | 2.36 GB
English | AVI | XviD | 640x480 | PDF | MP3, 160 kbps | ~8x45 min | 2.36 GB
TTC Audio
6 hours and 7 mins | MP3, 160 kbps | PDF
6 hours and 7 mins | MP3, 160 kbps | PDF
Course Lecture Titles
8 Lectures
45 minutes / lecture
1. Introduction and There?s No Place Like Home
Igor Stravinsky was raised in a St. Petersburg that was an amazing mix of Western and Eastern Europe, a blend that is a key to understanding Stravinsky's musical development. His father, Fyodor, was one of the great Russian operatic bass-baritones of his time. Accepted into law school, he continued music lessons and was steadfast in his ambition to become a composer.
2. From Student to Professional
Rimsky-Korsakov was so impressed with Stravinsky's Piano Sonata in F-sharp Minor (1904) he agreed to take Stravinsky as a private student. In 1909, Stravinsky met the impresario Serge Diaghilev, who commissioned Stravinsky to write a ballet on the folk tale The Firebird, which was followed by the ballet Petrushka, a great success. Stravinsky's next score, The Rite of Spring, would become arguably the most influential work of its time.
3. The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring changed the way we think about rhythm, melodic patterning, compositional technique, and expressive content. When it opened in Paris in 1923 it caused a scandal unparalleled in the history of music. Its lasting modernity is a testament to the fact that it does not sound like any work that preceded it, nor any that followed it.
4. The War Years (WWI)
The war years enforced an economy of means on the composer; large-scale works were out of the question. Among the creations of these years were the Three Pieces for String Quartet (1914), Renard (Fox) for four voices and small orchestra (1916), Ragtime for 11 Instruments (1918), and L'Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale) (1918). Les Noces (The Wedding), finished in 1923, is a great masterpiece of this period.
5. Neoclassicism
In 1919, Diaghilev proposed a ballet based on music by the Italian baroque composer Pergolesi. Immediately after the war, Diaghilev and Stravinsky, collaborated on a ballet?Pulcinella?based on music by the Italian baroque composer Pergolesi. From 1920 to 1923, Stravinsky composed the Symphonies for Wind Instruments, the opera Mavra, and the four-piano version of The Wedding.
6. Maturity
By the mid-1920s, Stravinsky's musical philosophy embraced the belief that a composition should be governed by purely formal considerations. In 1930 he wrote The Symphony of Psalms, a deeply religious work with elements similar to, and an austerity totally different from, The Rite of Spring.
7. A Citizen of the World
With the outbreak of World War II, Stravinsky and his wife settled in Los Angeles, where he became one of Hollywood's most sought-after celebrities. In 1948, Stravinsky met Robert Craft, who exposed the composer to 12-tone music. Stravinsky, in his early 70s, was about to change his compositional language and enter an entirely new musical world.
8. The New Stravinsky
The parallels between Schoenberg and Stravinsky are many. In the early 1950s, Robert Craft began conducting serial works by Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, which captured Stravinsky's interest. In 1962, Stravinsky visited Russia for the first time since 1914. Requiem Canticles (1966), Stravinsky's last major work, is considered the most accessible of his late works. He died April 6, 1971, and was buried in Venice on the island of San Michele.
8 Lectures
45 minutes / lecture
1. Introduction and There?s No Place Like Home
Igor Stravinsky was raised in a St. Petersburg that was an amazing mix of Western and Eastern Europe, a blend that is a key to understanding Stravinsky's musical development. His father, Fyodor, was one of the great Russian operatic bass-baritones of his time. Accepted into law school, he continued music lessons and was steadfast in his ambition to become a composer.
2. From Student to Professional
Rimsky-Korsakov was so impressed with Stravinsky's Piano Sonata in F-sharp Minor (1904) he agreed to take Stravinsky as a private student. In 1909, Stravinsky met the impresario Serge Diaghilev, who commissioned Stravinsky to write a ballet on the folk tale The Firebird, which was followed by the ballet Petrushka, a great success. Stravinsky's next score, The Rite of Spring, would become arguably the most influential work of its time.
3. The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring changed the way we think about rhythm, melodic patterning, compositional technique, and expressive content. When it opened in Paris in 1923 it caused a scandal unparalleled in the history of music. Its lasting modernity is a testament to the fact that it does not sound like any work that preceded it, nor any that followed it.
4. The War Years (WWI)
The war years enforced an economy of means on the composer; large-scale works were out of the question. Among the creations of these years were the Three Pieces for String Quartet (1914), Renard (Fox) for four voices and small orchestra (1916), Ragtime for 11 Instruments (1918), and L'Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale) (1918). Les Noces (The Wedding), finished in 1923, is a great masterpiece of this period.
5. Neoclassicism
In 1919, Diaghilev proposed a ballet based on music by the Italian baroque composer Pergolesi. Immediately after the war, Diaghilev and Stravinsky, collaborated on a ballet?Pulcinella?based on music by the Italian baroque composer Pergolesi. From 1920 to 1923, Stravinsky composed the Symphonies for Wind Instruments, the opera Mavra, and the four-piano version of The Wedding.
6. Maturity
By the mid-1920s, Stravinsky's musical philosophy embraced the belief that a composition should be governed by purely formal considerations. In 1930 he wrote The Symphony of Psalms, a deeply religious work with elements similar to, and an austerity totally different from, The Rite of Spring.
7. A Citizen of the World
With the outbreak of World War II, Stravinsky and his wife settled in Los Angeles, where he became one of Hollywood's most sought-after celebrities. In 1948, Stravinsky met Robert Craft, who exposed the composer to 12-tone music. Stravinsky, in his early 70s, was about to change his compositional language and enter an entirely new musical world.
8. The New Stravinsky
The parallels between Schoenberg and Stravinsky are many. In the early 1950s, Robert Craft began conducting serial works by Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, which captured Stravinsky's interest. In 1962, Stravinsky visited Russia for the first time since 1914. Requiem Canticles (1966), Stravinsky's last major work, is considered the most accessible of his late works. He died April 6, 1971, and was buried in Venice on the island of San Michele.
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