Stravinsky and France: Reception, Interactions, and Legacy

Bringing new insights to Stravinsky's multifaceted relationships and artistic interactions in France, this wide-ranging collection explores the composer's reception, legacy and influence into the twenty-first century.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century and a pivotal figure of musical modernism, Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) rose to international fame with the Paris premieres of his early Russian ballets The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring. From that point on, France played a decisive role in shaping his career and establishing him as an icon of the Parisian avant-garde.

Authored by internationally recognized and emerging scholars, this volume offers a new critical assessment of Stravinsky's multifaceted relationships and activities in France from 1910 to 1939, tracing how French artistic circles influenced his creative development and how his presence, in turn, reshaped the country's musical and cultural landscape. Addressing questions of identity, style, politics and memory across different cultural, intellectual and musical contexts, this wide-ranging and methodologically diverse collection of essays provides fresh perspectives on the composer's reception and interactions as well as the enduring legacy of his influence in twenty-first century France.