Igor Stravinsky
Legacy

Stravinsky is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. In 1998, Time magazine listed him as one of the 100 most influential people of the century. Stravinsky was not only recognized for his composing; he also achieved fame as a pianist and as a conductor. Philip Glass wrote in Time, "He conducted with an energy and vividness that completely conveyed his every musical intention. Here was Stravinsky, a musical revolutionary whose own evolution never stopped. There is not a composer who lived during his time or is alive today who was not touched, and sometimes transformed, by his work." Stravinsky was also renowned for his precise orchestration: the critic Alexis Roland-Manuel wrote that Stravinsky and the French composer Maurice Ravel were the " in the world who best knows the weight of a trombone-note, the harmonics of a 'cello or a pp tam-tam in the relationships of one orchestral group to another."

Stravinsky was noted for his distinctive use of rhythm, especially in The Rite of Spring. The rhythm in The Rite stretched across bars and lacked distinct beats, which opened the door for future composers to make rhythm more fluid within meters. However, many saw his subsequent neoclassical period as a return to the past while other composers tried advancing modern music. His subsequent turn towards serialism further alienated him from audiences, and academics saw this stylistic shift as not innovative enough, since they believed the death of Schoenberg also marked the end of twelve-tone music. Stephen Walsh related the changing nature of Stravinsky's music to the composer's nature: as an exile from his native Russia, Stravinsky adapted to his environment and absorbed the music of those around him. Martha Hyde stated that more recent analysis "judg Stravinsky's neoclassical style as the harbinger of musical postmodernism". After his death, Stravinsky's importance in modernist music became evident: though many modern styles quickly fell out of fashion (like twelve-tone music), the music of Stravinsky stood out as a body of unique ingenuity, according to Walsh.

Stravinsky influenced many composers and musicians. His music continues to offer inspiration and a unique method to young composers. The rhythmic innovations in The Rite of Spring brought rhythm to the forefront of modern music rather than tonality, setting a new standard in the modernist movement that future composers like Varèse and Ligeti were inspired to innovate upon. Stravinsky's rhythm and vitality greatly influenced Aaron Copland and Pierre Boulez, and the combination of folklore and modernism found in many of Stravinsky's works influenced Béla Bartók as well. Stravinsky's less popular works were also widely influential: the disconnected form of the Symphonies of Wind Instruments can be seen similarly in later works by avant-garde masters like Messiaen, Tippett, Andriessen, and Xenakis. Stravinsky also influenced composers like Elliott Carter, Harrison Birtwistle, and John Tavener. Aside from Craft, his students include Robert Strassburg, Armando José Fernandes, Mordecai Seter, and Warren Zevon.
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