by Caroline Fynn

Created on: December 30, 2010   Last Updated: January 28, 2011

Igor Stravinsky was born on 17th June 1882 in Oranienbaum, which is now known as Lomonosov, a town approximately ten kilometres outside of St Petersburgh in Russia.

He was one of four children born to Anna Kholodovsky and Fyodor Stravinsky. Anna was a skilled piano player and Fyodor, a talented opera singer and friend of the great composer Tchaikovsky.

As a child, Stravinsky was himself musical, not only did he learn a variety of instruments, he also experimented with composing. In addition to this, he was a hard-working all round student. He followed the advice of his parents and went on to study law. However, in 1903 he met Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov who taught music to numerous students; Stravinsky along with Glazonov and Prokofiev went on to become the most significant. Meeting with Rimsky-Korsakov turned out to be a life changing event for Stravinsky. Korsakov took him on as a private pupil and Stravinsky became determined to make a living as a composer.

In 1906, Stravinsky married Katerina Nossenko. Throughout their marriage, they produced and raised seven children.

Luck continued to shine on Stravinsky. In 1909, the impresario Serge Diaghilev attended a concert in St Petersburgh where he heard Stravinsky’s first mature compositions ‘Scherzo Fantastique’ and ‘Feu d’Artifice’. Diaghilev was so impressed that he requested Stravinsky to compose two pieces for one of his ballet productions. This then led to Diaghilev commissioning Stravinsky for the Paris-based Ballet Russe. This is where the ‘Firebird’ was born and this earned Stravinsky overnight fame.

Stravinsky continued to work with Diaghilev and went on to write ‘Petrushka’ and ‘Le Sacre du Pritemps’ also known as ‘The Rite of Spring’. This was the subject of much controversy and many Parisians expressed utmost dislike.

World War I broke out and Stravinsky and his family fled to Switzerland. It was during this time that he wrote ‘Les Noces’ and ‘L’Histoire du Soldat’. When the war ended in 1918, the Stravinsky family moved to Paris. Katerina and the children were suffering from tuberculosis, but they were unable to return to Russia due to the communist regime. Stravinsky returned to working with Diaghilev and wrote the music for the ballet known as Pulcinella.

It was during this time that Stravinsky encountered the fashion designer Coco Chanel. She told him how she had in fact very much liked his controversial composition ‘Le Sacre du Pritemps’. They became friends and Stravinsky and his family moved into Chanel’s home. It was here that Katerina’s heart was broken; Stravinsky and Chanel, for a period of time, enjoyed a passionate love affair.

Tuberculosis finally killed Katerina and one of Stravinsky’s daughters, and by the end of the 1930s, when war was once again about to break out, Stravinsky had the urge to leave Europe. He moved to America in 1939 with his mistress, the artist, Vera de Bossett. They married in 1940 and made their home in Hollywood.

Stravinsky went on to compose the ‘Symphony in C’ and ‘The Rake’s Progress’. By this stage of his life, Stravinsky had become such a great composer and conductor that each new work was guaranteed to be a huge success.

On 6th April 1971, Stravinsky died in New York at the age of eighty eight, and as he requested, he was buried on the island of San Michele near to his old friend Serge Diaghilev.

Sources:

www.musicianguide.com

The Rough Guide to Classical Music edited by Joe Staines & Duncan Clark

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