Igor Stravinsky
As a composer, knew many conductors. Later, he wrote an essay about them. What could he write about them? What would your typical composer have to say about conductors? Surprisingly, when Stravinsky wrote about conductors he became very critical. Sarcasm and mockery permeate throughout the passage when he discusses them. Stravinsky uses a few schemes to convince his reader of the conductor's insignificance. First, the language Stravinsky uses in his passage is very caustic. In a few places, he goes beyond his arguments into simple denunciations and attacks on the conductors. "The conductor is encouraged to impose a purely egotistical, false, and arbitrary authority, and that he is ...
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to call a person original means to say that he is smart, that he comes with resourceful ideas. Since Stravinsky was Russian, that is what he probably meant. Therefore in his first sentence, Stravinsky says that, more or less, almost all conductors are stupid.
The whole passage is more of an insult to all conductors, rather than an informative text. Secondly, Stravinsky uses comparisons to politicians in order condemn the conductors. "Conducting, like politics, rarely attracts original minds … His [the conductor's] first skill has to be power politics," he says in the first paragraph. Politicians are always thought to be corrupt, dishonest, and insidious. In fact, politician is a word that is always associated with something evil. This method of attacking is effective, though primitive; there is a bit of politics in practically every job. Furthermore, Stravinsky fails to note exactly how a conductor is similar to a politician, apart from saying that conducting, like politics, is not ...
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Igor Stravinsky. (2006, October 6). Retrieved April 18, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Igor-Stravinsky/53463
"Igor Stravinsky." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 6 Oct. 2006. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Igor-Stravinsky/53463>
"Igor Stravinsky." Essayworld.com. October 6, 2006. Accessed April 18, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Igor-Stravinsky/53463.
"Igor Stravinsky." Essayworld.com. October 6, 2006. Accessed April 18, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Igor-Stravinsky/53463.
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