An Autobiography: Igor Stravinsky
“I live neither in the past nor in the future. I am in the present. I cannot know what tomorrow will bring forth. I can know only what the truth is for me today. That is what I am called upon to serve, and I serve it in all lucidity”.
Favorite Quotes
“Curiosity triumphs over fear”.
“…One blindly accepts truths propounded by those whose prestige is unanimously recognizes, especially when this prestige is concerned with the mastery of technique and the art of savoir faire”.
“But I can experience this feeling of pleasure in the very process of work, and in looking forward to the joy that any find or discovery may bring. And I admit that I am most not sorry that this should have been so, because perfect facility would of necessity, have diminished my eagerness in striving, and the satisfaction of having “found” would not have been complete”.
“Music is the sole domain in which man realizes the present. By the imperfection of his nature, man is doomed to submit to the passage of time- to its categories of past and future – without ever being able to give substance, and therefore stability, to the category of the present”.
“I desired to express myself in a language which should be essentially my own”.
“He put all his soul, all his strength, into it, and in the most disinterested way, for there was here no question of enhancing his reputation as a pioneer or appealing to the curiosity of the public by new forms”.
“…Art demands above all the full consciousness of the artist”.
“As I hate being hurried, and was afraid of unforeseen obstacles towards the finish, I seized every hour I could to go ahead with my composition, thus leaving as little as possible to the last moments. I much preferred tiring myself at the beginning to being hurried at the end”.
“…Understanding is given only to those who make an active effort. Passive receptivity is not enough. To listen to certain combinations of sound and automatically become accustomed to them does not necessarily imply that they have been heard and understood. For one can listen without hearing, just as one can look without seeing”.
“The truth of the matter is that everything that is original is irreplaceable”.
“I thank you for being alive”.
“…Taste for the craft and the satisfaction of being able to apply it”.
“The uninitiated imagine that one must await inspiration in order to create. That is a mistake. I am far from saying that there is no such thing as inspiration; quite the opposite. It is found as a driving force in every kind of human activity, and is in no wise peculiar to artists. But that force is only brought into action by an effort, and that effort is work.”
Reflection
This book was truly meaningful for me. I learned about the true spirit of someone that achieved craftsmanship and looked for excellence in everything he did. Stravinsky definitely was someone that lived his life immersed in the present and I think that is a very valuable characteristic of any human being, he disentangled from the here and now, from the past and the future, he lived what he was living at the moment. His curiosity and desire to achieve were always pushing him forward in unexpected ways. He was a citizen of the world; he traveled a lot and met a lot of amazing people that supported him with his career as a musician. Another meaningful insight I learned from Stravinsky was that he always learned something from others; throughout all his autobiography he mentions a lot of friends or acquaintances that taught him something. He genuinely admired them. He was a really grateful person, for his life, for his family and friends. He always cherished them and valued the moments he shared with them. He was an authentic learner, he questioned dogma and he relied on his own judgment to make decisions. All those characteristics in his personality emerged, I think, from his desire and passion to work, and find inspiration through it. He devoted the time his work deserved in order to produce something magnificent and with his highest standards.
If I could describe him in one sentence, I would say: Igor Stravinsky was an authentic human being that showed honesty and high standards in everything he did; he lived in the present, he was grateful and thoughtful.
“Curiosity triumphs over fear”.
“…One blindly accepts truths propounded by those whose prestige is unanimously recognizes, especially when this prestige is concerned with the mastery of technique and the art of savoir faire”.
“But I can experience this feeling of pleasure in the very process of work, and in looking forward to the joy that any find or discovery may bring. And I admit that I am most not sorry that this should have been so, because perfect facility would of necessity, have diminished my eagerness in striving, and the satisfaction of having “found” would not have been complete”.
“Music is the sole domain in which man realizes the present. By the imperfection of his nature, man is doomed to submit to the passage of time- to its categories of past and future – without ever being able to give substance, and therefore stability, to the category of the present”.
“I desired to express myself in a language which should be essentially my own”.
“He put all his soul, all his strength, into it, and in the most disinterested way, for there was here no question of enhancing his reputation as a pioneer or appealing to the curiosity of the public by new forms”.
“…Art demands above all the full consciousness of the artist”.
“As I hate being hurried, and was afraid of unforeseen obstacles towards the finish, I seized every hour I could to go ahead with my composition, thus leaving as little as possible to the last moments. I much preferred tiring myself at the beginning to being hurried at the end”.
“…Understanding is given only to those who make an active effort. Passive receptivity is not enough. To listen to certain combinations of sound and automatically become accustomed to them does not necessarily imply that they have been heard and understood. For one can listen without hearing, just as one can look without seeing”.
“The truth of the matter is that everything that is original is irreplaceable”.
“I thank you for being alive”.
“…Taste for the craft and the satisfaction of being able to apply it”.
“The uninitiated imagine that one must await inspiration in order to create. That is a mistake. I am far from saying that there is no such thing as inspiration; quite the opposite. It is found as a driving force in every kind of human activity, and is in no wise peculiar to artists. But that force is only brought into action by an effort, and that effort is work.”
Reflection
This book was truly meaningful for me. I learned about the true spirit of someone that achieved craftsmanship and looked for excellence in everything he did. Stravinsky definitely was someone that lived his life immersed in the present and I think that is a very valuable characteristic of any human being, he disentangled from the here and now, from the past and the future, he lived what he was living at the moment. His curiosity and desire to achieve were always pushing him forward in unexpected ways. He was a citizen of the world; he traveled a lot and met a lot of amazing people that supported him with his career as a musician. Another meaningful insight I learned from Stravinsky was that he always learned something from others; throughout all his autobiography he mentions a lot of friends or acquaintances that taught him something. He genuinely admired them. He was a really grateful person, for his life, for his family and friends. He always cherished them and valued the moments he shared with them. He was an authentic learner, he questioned dogma and he relied on his own judgment to make decisions. All those characteristics in his personality emerged, I think, from his desire and passion to work, and find inspiration through it. He devoted the time his work deserved in order to produce something magnificent and with his highest standards.
If I could describe him in one sentence, I would say: Igor Stravinsky was an authentic human being that showed honesty and high standards in everything he did; he lived in the present, he was grateful and thoughtful.