Dialogues

by Igor Stravinsky, Robert Craft

'The conversations between Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft are unique in musical history.' "Sunday Times" "" Dialogues is the fourth volume in the legendary series of Stravinsky's conversations with Robert Craft. Originally published in l968 as Dialogues and a Diary, Robert Craft's diary of his travels with Stravinsky (1948-62) was omitted from this edition because it had appeared in fuller form in Craft's book The Chronicle of a Friendship (1972). The composer's reminiscences here include the composition of "Oedipus Rex" (with letters to Cocteau), remarks on 'Music and the Statistical Age', a devastating review of recordings of "The Rite of Spring," and racy sketches of Evelyn Waugh, Christopher Isherwood, Aldous Huxley, and other friends. 'Was I merely trying to refit old * while the other side - Schoenberg - sought new forms of travel? ...the true business of the artist "is" to refit old *. He can say again, in his way, only what has already been said.' This unique series of memories offers not only indispensable documentation but also exceptional literary distinction, and is essential reading for all students and lovers of Stravinsky. 'A rewarding and stimulating book, full of illuminating insights into music past and present, and irresistibly readable ...' "Daily Telegraph"

Genres: Music

152 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

About the author

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music.

He was a quintessentially cosmopolitan Russian who was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the century. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1946. In addition to the recognition he received for his compositions, he also achieved fame as a pianist and a conductor, often at the premieres of his works.

He also published a number of books throughout his career, almost always with the aid of a collaborator, sometimes uncredited. In his 1936 autobiography, Chronicles of My Life, written with the help of Walter Nouvel, Stravinsky included his infamous statement that "music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all."