How Stravinsky has contributed to the development of Western music and or music technology
Stravinsky’s developmental context
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) is known not just for the breadth of diversity acknowledged in his oeuvre, but for the impact and contribution it has made on Western culture, particularly music. Indeed, Time magazine named him as one of the most influential people of the 20th century.
At the time of Stravinsky’s birth, Imperial Russia was undergoing immense change in all areas of society.
Upon his accession to the Russian throne in 1855, Tsar Alexander II initiated major reform in economic, educational, social, governmental and cultural spheres. At the time, Russia was predominantly an agricultural society, structured similarly to feudal systems. Neighbouring states were out-pacing Russia in industrialisation and social development.
Alexander oversaw an explosion in the population numbers, as well as a significant increase in the production of goods (between 1860 and 1890, coal production had grown by approximately 1200%). This growth acted as a catalyst for cultural change amongst the population- particularly the intelligentsia- encouraged by the political and social liberalisation policies of the Tsar, which saw Russian art take new direction.
These changes also fermented a new nationalist ideal; the Russification of Russia’s peoples and her dominions, engendered by a sense of pride and progress in the country’s development, both domestically and nationally, along with a guarded attitude towards external influences.
Within art movements, this gave rise to ‘national Romanticism’ in the 1850s, which would become firmly established by the time of Stravinsky’s birth in the 1880s. This was the idea that each nation had inextricably-linked characteristics relating to national identity. Within Russia, this idea would be embodied by a school of musical thought known as the Mighty Handful, a loose collective of Russian composers headed by Mily Balakirev and including Cescar Cui, Modest
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) is known not just for the breadth of diversity acknowledged in his oeuvre, but for the impact and contribution it has made on Western culture, particularly music. Indeed, Time magazine named him as one of the most influential people of the 20th century.
At the time of Stravinsky’s birth, Imperial Russia was undergoing immense change in all areas of society.
Upon his accession to the Russian throne in 1855, Tsar Alexander II initiated major reform in economic, educational, social, governmental and cultural spheres. At the time, Russia was predominantly an agricultural society, structured similarly to feudal systems. Neighbouring states were out-pacing Russia in industrialisation and social development.
Alexander oversaw an explosion in the population numbers, as well as a significant increase in the production of goods (between 1860 and 1890, coal production had grown by approximately 1200%). This growth acted as a catalyst for cultural change amongst the population- particularly the intelligentsia- encouraged by the political and social liberalisation policies of the Tsar, which saw Russian art take new direction.
These changes also fermented a new nationalist ideal; the Russification of Russia’s peoples and her dominions, engendered by a sense of pride and progress in the country’s development, both domestically and nationally, along with a guarded attitude towards external influences.
Within art movements, this gave rise to ‘national Romanticism’ in the 1850s, which would become firmly established by the time of Stravinsky’s birth in the 1880s. This was the idea that each nation had inextricably-linked characteristics relating to national identity. Within Russia, this idea would be embodied by a school of musical thought known as the Mighty Handful, a loose collective of Russian composers headed by Mily Balakirev and including Cescar Cui, Modest