Music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all. Music expresses itself. Igor Stravinsky More Quotes by Igor Stravinsky More Quotes From Igor Stravinsky Art is the opposite of chaos. Art is organized chaos. Igor Stravinsky chaosoppositesart My God, so much I like to drink Scotch that sometimes I think my name is Igor Stra-whiskey. Igor Stravinsky scotchnamesthinking My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self of the chains that shackle the spirit. Igor Stravinsky freedomselfmeaningful I haven't understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it. Igor Stravinsky barsmusicthinking One has a nose. The nose scents and it chooses. An artist is simply a kind of pig snouting truffles. Igor Stravinsky creativitymusicart In order to create there must be a dynamic force, and what force is more potent than love? Igor Stravinsky marriageloveorder A good composer does not imitate; he steals. Igor Stravinsky jazz-and-lifemusicdoe There is music wherever there is rhythm, as there is life wherever there beats a pulse. Igor Stravinsky rhythmpulsebeats The further one separates himself from the precepts of the Christian Church, the further one distances himself from the truth. Only God can create. I make music from music. Igor Stravinsky distancechurchchristian The Church knew what the psalmist knew: Music praises God. Music is well or better able to praise him than the building of the church and all its decoration; it is the Church's greatest ornament. Igor Stravinsky ornamentsablechurch I 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 Stravinsky artistictalentpride I 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 Stravinsky wisdominspirationallife Music is given to us with the sole purpose of establishing an order in things, including, and particularly, the coordination between man and time. Igor Stravinsky musicmenorder Consonance, says the dictionary, is the combination of several tones into a harmonic unit. Dissonance results from the deranging of this harmony by the addition of tones foreign to it. One must admit that all this is not clear. Ever since it appeared in our vocabulary, the word 'dissonance' has carried with it a certain odor of sinfulness. Let us light our lantern: in textbook language, dissonance is an element of transition, a complex or interval of tones that is not complete in itself and that must be resolved to the ear's satisfaction into a perfect consonance. Igor Stravinsky vocabularylightperfect Harpists spend 90 percent of their lives tuning their harps and 10 percent playing out of tune. Igor Stravinsky harpstuningtunes Composition is selective improvisation. Igor Stravinsky selectivecompositionimprovisation Music's exclusive function is to structure the flow of time and keep order in it. Igor Stravinsky structurefloworder My childhood was a period of waiting for the moment when I could send everyone and everything connected with it to hell. Igor Stravinsky childhoodhellwaiting Just as appetite comes by eating, so work brings inspiration, if inspiration is not discernible at the beginning. Igor Stravinsky inspirationworkfood To listen is an effort, and just to hear is no merit. A duck hears also. Igor Stravinsky effortducksmusic
