Shane Tomashot
Review: Stravinsky by Walsh
Stephen Walsh, in this well written
biography on Igor Stravinsky, thoroughly documents key events in Stravinsky’s
life that shaped his music career. Stravinsky:
A Creative Spring, Russia and France, 1882-1934, covers Stravinsky’s life
and work from his birth fifty miles outside of St. Petersburg to his time in
France in which he gained French citizenship.
The rationale for writing a book about the great composer, Walsh claims,
is to bring facts to light that have been embellished or are simply inaccurate
in previous biographical sketches of Stravinsky. Previous portrayals of Stravinsky’s life,
Walsh contends, are inaccurate and unreliable both textually and materially, including
those written by Stravinsky himself.
Utilizing numerous sources, as indicated by over a hundred pages of
footnotes, Walsh chronologically analyzes Stravinsky’s music and career through
the prism of Stravinsky’s personal life, interactions and social environment.
Walsh examines Stravinsky’s childhood,
elucidating the various influences upon Stravinsky’s psychological makeup and
love life. Stravinsky grew up as an
insecure young man. He generally did not
trust his fellow man which is indicated by his meticulous record keeping. Walsh contends that Stravinsky gained this characteristic
from his father. Stravinsky kept records
of his activities, especially money earned and spent. His letters, Walsh states, “sometimes display
a labored, self-immolating anxiety to please (p. 20). In later life, Stravinsky became more
free-spirited and tried to get away from his strict bearings. Perhaps this was a latent personality trait,
as Stravinsky did not excel in grade school.
Rather, he was increasingly drawn to music and neglected his other studies. Having a professional opera singer for a
father, however, must have greatly increased not only Stravinsky’s interest in
music, but also his access to musical scores and techniques.
Stravinsky’s circle of colleagues and
friends played a prominent and influential role in his musical life. Stravinsky studied under the tutelage of
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. Stravinsky’s
“Song of the Dew” was greatly influenced by Rinsky’s Kitezh “with which Igor was intimately acquainted” (p. 117). It is with this relationship, however, that
Walsh challenges previous conceptions.
Although Stravinsky stated in a late biography of his life that ‘he
played his first composition to Rimsky-Korsakov,’ Walsh contends that this is
highly unlikely since Rimsky-Korsakov was notorious for his “sharpness of
tongue” (p. 68). In reality, Walsh
claims, all of Rimsky-Korsakov’s students accorded such “niceties” to their
former teacher. Rimsky-Korsakov’s
influence on Stravinsky was made obvious by Stravinsky’s own habit of self-contradiction
as well as his “deep-rooted tendency to cover his inspirational and emotional
traces” (p. 69).
Sergey Diaghilev, the great ballet
composer, was drawn to Stravinsky after hearing Fireworks. Of course, as is
the theme in Walsh’s book, the first meeting between Diaghilev and Stravinsky
has been muddled by previous biographical and autobiographical works. Regardless, most likely Diaghilev likely
decided that Stravinsky would be a good collaborator for his new ballet company
after hearing both Scherzo fantastique
and Firebird (p. 122). It was also at this time, roughly 1909-1910,
that Stravinsky met Picasso. Picasso
sketched a few famous portraits of Stravinsky and they attended various functions
together.
The great violinist Steinberg also
played a prominent role in Stravinsky’s professional life after they met in
1906. Walsh engages the notion that
Stravinsky was jealous of the success of “the newcomer.” Previous writings that suggest Stravinsky was
envious of Rimsky-Korsakov’s affection for Steinberg’s work are suspect
according to Walsh. Recent letters and
other evidence suggest that Stravinsky admired Steinberg’s talents. It is interesting to note, however,
Stravinsky’s anti-Semitic remarks toward a Paris agent whom he describes as
having “the bulbous nose, the shady brow, and the frizzy hair” of a Jew (p.
192). Walsh claims that Stravinsky held
his close Jewish friend Steinberg in high esteem and only made anti-Semitic
remarks in private correspondence.
Moreover, Walsh speculates that such private correspondences with close
friends may have been attributable to “a private mutual reassurance between
exiles of a certain caste” (p. 192).
Stravinsky played his masterpiece The Rite of Spring (Sacre) for Diaghilev and Nijinsky, and they were “wild about it”
(p. 179). Diaghilev was “stunned” by
Stravinsky’s “‘Sacrificial’ inspirations.”
Walsh continues his introspection here as well, analyzing Stravinsky’s
writings about his approach. Although
Stravinsky complained that he was too consumed with work at this time to work
adamantly on Sacre (roughly 1912),
Walsh contends Stravinsky was most likely working diligently on the
masterpiece. Moreover, Walsh questions
common conceptions of whether or not Stravinsky really asked the painter Somov
to participate in Sacre.
Dealing with Stravinsky’s personal
life, Walsh delves into Stravinsky’s relationship with his wife, Katya, as well
as numerous mistresses in France and Italy.
Katya, Walsh contends, has been misconstrued in previous works by Robert
Craft and others. Those works portray
Katya as a “pious” and reserved individual.
In reality, neither she nor her husband regularly attended church. Moreover, although she was somewhat
conservative, she was a devoted mate willing to attend various events with
Stravinsky. She was often “well-dressed”
and wore lipstick (p. 410).
Walsh also addresses Stravinsky’s work
ethic. Stravinsky was, Walsh contends,
“a creature of routine” (p. 419).
Stravinsky set aside the same times each day for exercise, composing,
piano playing and transcribing. This was
critical as touring often cut into his creative process. These regimens, however, did not prevent Stravinsky
from becoming a victim of blackmail. An
American artist, whom Stravinsky had not paid for his services, threatened
Stravinsky with making public phone conversations in which Stravinsky talked of
financial double-dealing with an orchestra manager.
Walsh’s intent, to show the real
Stravinsky by comparing previous works about the composer as well as works by
Stravinsky himself, is accomplished by Walsh’s detailed analyses and comparison
of hundreds of sources. Although the
book contains little detail of Stravinsky’s music itself, Walsh accomplishes
what he intends. Walsh has written a
biography of the composer himself, detailing his personal life and artistic
interactions and motivations. This seven
hundred page book is only volume one!
No comments:
Post a Comment