I was born out of due time in the sense that by temperament and talent I should have been more suited for the life of a small Bach, living in anonymity and composing regularly for an established service and for God.
Igor StravinskyWhat I cannot follow are the manic-depressive fluctuations from total control to no control, from the serialization of all elements to chance.
Igor StravinskyLook for the music on all things, and life will be a symphony of joy. My music is best understood by children and animals.
Igor StravinskyI live neither in the past nor in the future. I am in the present. I cannot know what tomorrow will bring forth. I can know only what the truth is for me today. That is what I am called upon to serve, and I serve it in all lucidity.
Igor StravinskyI was...attacked for being a pasticheur, chided for composing "simple" music, blamed for deserting "modernism," accused of renouncing my "true Russian heritage." People who had never heard of, or cared about, the originals cried "sacrilege": "The classics are ours. Leave the classics alone." To them all my answer was and is the same: You "respect," but I love.
Igor Stravinsky