Stravinsky

1962 · 84762 — 1962. Single page typed signed letter with notes in Stravinsky's hand. Typed signed letter from 1962 to Igor Styravinsky from Carl Haverlin pioneer in radio broadcasting and longtime president of Broadcast Music Inc. The letter is on Broadcast Music Inc. stationary and Haverlin writes to inquire about some illustrations which Dulac had made for Stravinsky's Firebird Ballet. He writes: "I.take the liberty of asking you if your memory will bring forth any background on the sketches." In the margin adjacent to this sentence Stravinsky writes "Not at all!" in red pen. Haverlin closes the letter with: "Photostats of the sketchbook pages are enclosed." Beneath this Stravinsky writes along with his signature "I find it unfortunately very bad." Matted and framed opposite a photograph of Stravinsky. The entire piece measures 26.5 inches by 19.25 inches. Igor Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer pianist and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century. Stravinsky's compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Serge Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes: The Firebird 1910 Petrushka 1911 and The Rite of Spring 1913. The last of these transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure and was largely responsible for Stravinsky's enduring reputation as a musical revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design. His "Russian phase" which continued with works such as Renard the Soldier's Tale and Les Noces was followed in the 1920s by a period in which he turned to neoclassical music. The works from this period tended to make use of traditional musical forms concerto grosso fugue and symphony drawing on earlier styles especially from the 18th century. In the 1950s Stravinsky adopted serial procedures. His compositions of this period shared traits with examples of his earlier output: rhythmic energy the construction of extended melodic ideas out of a few two- or three-note cells and clarity of form and of instrumentation. unknown