Stravinsky On Modern Music

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 502, 3 November 1928, Page 28

Stravinsky On Modern Music

In an interview given to a Russian newspaper Igor Stravinsky, the most modern of modern composers, gave emphatic expression to his views on the music of to-day. “One thing is sure,” he said, “there is not in my music the slightest trace of romanticism. How could any one nowadays be romantic? It is my opinion that romanticism is gone forever. This applies equally to life and music. Romantic music was a product of lent and imagination and rhythm. Nobody has found

as yet a suitable name for this new tendency in musical development. Nor did the romanticists know how we would refer to them. We stand at the foot of an immense mountain through which we cannot see. “The critics have always misunderstood me. They say that I revived in ‘Oedipus* the oldtime oratorio. As

a matter of face, I never look backward. ‘Oedipus* was no deviation in my forward path, but another step on the way I began with ‘Petruschka.* In everyday life we choose our garments to fit the occasion, though our personality is the same whether we wear a dress suit or pyjamas. The same applies to art. I garb my ideas in robes to fit the subject, but do not change iny personality. Many

people are amazed that I choose a Latin text for ‘Oedipus.* 1 decided quite some time ago to use a dead language in preference to a modern, in order to avoid a loss of dignity through colloquialism. Latin i» excellently suited for the sublime theme of ‘Oedipus.*** Speaking of opera Stravinsky said} “Music drama, exalted as it was by Wagner, leaves be utterly indifferent. Wagner makes music of the drama; I make drama of the music. Without any intention to belittle Wagper, I must confess that I find his compositions unimportant. I admire Verdi, though his last works (‘Othello’ and ‘Falstaff’) leave me cold. “Beethoven attracts me even less, but I like Bach and Mozart and, strange though it may sound, Weber also. Naturally it is not the latter’s romanticism which impresses me, but his technique and instrumentation. I also admire Glinka and Tchaikovsky. “ ‘Boris Godunoff,* however, doesn’t appeal to me, perhaps because it is ‘music drama.* I keep my former teacher, Rimsky-Korsakoff, in pleasant and affectionate remembrance, but I confess that I don’t care for his music. “There is one thing in music I dislike even more than romanticism, and that is eroticism as found in the works of Scriabine, whose talents are in my opinion very moderate. I had better not speak about the moderns. With every respect to a few talented ones, it seems to me that nothing startling has been written.**