Music is the coordination between man and time.
IGOR STRAVINSKYMusic is the coordination between man and time.
IGOR STRAVINSKYGood composers don’t borrow, they steal.
IGOR STRAVINSKYI know that the twelve notes in each octave and the variety of rhythm offer me opportunities that all of human genius will never exhaust.
IGOR STRAVINSKYOld age is a time of humiliations, the most disagreeable of which, for me, is that I cannot work long at sustained high pressure with no leaks in concentration.
IGOR STRAVINSKYMusic is given to us specifically to make order of things, to move from an anarchic, individualistic state to a regulated, perfectly concious one, which alone insures vitality and durability.
IGOR STRAVINSKYComposers combine notes, that’s all.
IGOR STRAVINSKYI take no pride in my artistic talents; they are God-given and I see absolutely no reason to become puffed up over something that one has received.
IGOR STRAVINSKYI never understood the need for a “live” audience. My music, because of its extreme quietude, would be happiest with a dead one.
IGOR STRAVINSKYHurry? I have no time to hurry.
IGOR STRAVINSKYMusic must be listened to; it is not enough to hear it. A duck hears also.
IGOR STRAVINSKYWhat gives the artist real prestige is his imitators.
IGOR STRAVINSKYComposition is selective improvisation.
IGOR STRAVINSKYArt postulates communion, and the artist has an imperative need to make others share the joy which he experiences himself.
IGOR STRAVINSKYThe faculty of creating is never given to us all by itself. It always goes hand in hand with the gift of observation.
IGOR STRAVINSKYI have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge.
IGOR STRAVINSKYTo listen is an effort, and just to hear is no merit. A duck hears also.
IGOR STRAVINSKY