Stravinsky: Selected Correspondence Volume 3

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At the centre of this third and final volume of letters to and from Igor Stravinsky is four decades of the composers correspondence with his publishers. Stravinskys letters to Schotts cover the years 1928-39 and the publication of the Violin Concerto, the Concerto per due pianoforte soli, Jeu de Cartes, the Concerto in E flat, and the Symphony in C. His letters to Associated Music Publishers span the years 1940-7, while twenty-two years of correspondence with Boosey amp; Hawkes reveals much about the development of Stravinskys works in progress, the performances of his music, and his projects and plans. These letters offer fascinating glimpses into his daily life - musical and otherwise - clearly exhibiting his meticulousness, his immense vitality, and his unbounded creativity. Here also is Stravinskys correspondence with Debussy, Satie, Ravel and Poulenc, and with literary collaborators, C. F. Ramuz (Histoire du Soldat), and Andre Gide (Persephone). The correspondence with Charles-Albert Cingria, one of Stravinskys closest friends, shows how the composer was influenced by Cingrias views on art, literature, and religion, while the letters from musicologist and organist, Jacques Handschin (the only Russian contemporary of Stravinskys who was an influence on him in later life), contain the sole published reference to the possibility that before the Russian Revolution, Stravinsky may have been leftist-minded. A fascinating collection on its own, this volume joins the first two to form an essential document in the history of twentieth-century music.

Author Bio

The distinguished conductor, Robert Craft, met Igor Stravinsky in 1948, and developed what proved to be an extraordinarily fruitful artistic partnership from then until the composers death in 1971. Craft lived with the family in California and later in New York and remained close to the composers widow Vera, until her death in 1982.