My Name is Igor Stravinsky

Hello fellow music lovers! My name is Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky. This is my first time on this… thing… called “Blogger”. Interesting is it not?

Anyway, let me introduce you to the beginnings of my life. I was born on June 17, 1882 to Fyodor Ignatievitch Stravinsky and Anna Kholodovsky, in Oranienbaum, Russa, which I believe is now Lomonosov. My father was a bass singer in St. Petersburg, which is where I was raised. Here began my passion for music; I had piano lessons, studied music theory, and tried to write some music. I had three brothers, Roman, Youry, and Goury, who was my favorite. He too loved music. Overall in my childhood, "I never came across anyone who had any real affection for me." My father was a very unpleasant person when I was not sick. Fortunately and sadly, I was often ill.

My first exposure to the orchestra was Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty. Oh! How wonderful it was! What genius! I was only eight, and yet I could understand the magnificence of it. Was I not brilliant?

I had such a passion for music, but my parents wanted me to be a lawyer. Me?! A lawyer?! Hmph! At 19, I attended the University of St. Petersburg to study law, but I studied music at the same time. Haha!

A few years later, the university closed because of Bloody Sunday. It was a very grim day for everyone. At that time, food was scarce, and workers had gone to our beloved tsar’s palace. Those poor souls… the stupid soldiers fired on them thinking they were going to do something violent. This led to a series of strikes and revolts and other nasty things. How dare they cause more trouble for our beloved tsar?!
I was only able to have a “half” diploma because I could not take my law finals because of this event. It was also because I did not go to all of my classes.

Around the time of Bloody Sunday, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, one of the best musicians of Russia, gave me some advice to become his student.

It is the year of 1908, and I am taking lessons from him twice a week. He is a great man. He is like a father to me… He is not interested in new music as I am. It is fascinating. The French composer, Charles Debussy, is very inspiring.

Back to my teacher….his daughter Nadezda and Maximilian Steinberg are going to get married. They want to get married as quickly as possible because Nikolai is ill. He’s been ill for a while, and it pains me to see it. Is it not amazing how he was able to teach me and others and compose music while being ill? Again, he is an amazing person.

I wrote Feu d’artifice (Fireworks) as a wedding gift for the couple. I am sure they will love it. Nadezda is sure to enjoy it; she is the daughter of Nikolai who is a man of music. The piece is an orchestral fantasy and is pretty short, about five minutes, but it is excellent.

Did I mention I was married? Well, I am, to my cousin, Katerina Nossenko. At the moment, we have two wonderful children, Fyodor and Ludmilla.

Sorry, that must have been a lot of information for you to absorb. Well, that is it for now. Goodbye!