Stravinsky: Discoveries and Memories

Robert Craft was co-conductor, companion and confidant to Igor Stravinsky for the last two decades of the composer’s life, an intimate working relationship that is unique in musical history. Now, in his ninetieth year, Craft has produced a book of astonishing freshness, warmth and wit as he surveys through the lens of his own distinctive position Stravinsky’s relationships with others – from family members to fellow composers to some of the greatest writers, philosophers, politicians and artists of the time. Craft has written often of this period, but in Stravinsky: Discoveries and Memories he explores areas of the composer’s life that he has never before touched upon. Peppered with delightful anecdotes, it is at times revelatory, showing sides of Stravinsky that only now Craft feels able to consider. The years have given Robert Craft a balanced view of the composer he knew so well. Not only was he present at important meetings, rehearsals and premieres as well as numerous dinners and parties, he was also there when Stravinsky reminisced about the early years; the composer trusted him and gave him unique access to his archives.

Among the many people discussed in connection with Stravinsky are Anton Webern, Arnold Schoenberg, George Balanchine, Serge Diaghilev, Maurice Ravel, Nino Rota, Giacomo Puccini, Sergei Prokofiev, George Gershwin, Luciano Berio, Benito Mussolini, Salvador Dalí, Henry Moore, Sir Isaiah Berlin, Thomas Mann, Sir Kenneth Clark, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Aldous Huxley and Edwin Hubble.