stravinsky and the students of nadia boulanger. nadia boulanger 1887-1979 (92) composer,...

Early 20th Century

Stravinsky and the students of Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger

1887-1979 (92)

Composer, conductor, & master teacher

Most important teacher of the 20th century

Taught at the American Conservatory in France (in addition to other schools)

The Master Teacher

List of Students (selected)

Aaron Copland David Conte David Diamond Philip Glass Quincy Jones Virgil Thomson Astor Piazzolla Gershwin (she refused)

List of Schools taught at

Fontainebleau School (France)

Paris Conservatoire (ca. 1945)

Peabody Conservatory (Baltimore)

Julliard (NYC) Longy School (Bard

College, MA) Royal College of Music Royal Academy of Music

(UK)

The First Maestra

Boulanger was the first woman to conduct the following orchestras:

1. BBC Symphony2. Boston Symphony3. NY Philharmonic4. Philadelphia Orchestra5. National Symphony

Orchestra (US)

“You need an established language and then, within that established language, the liberty to be yourself. It’s always necessary to be yourself – that is a mark of genius in itself.”

“I can’t provide anyone with inventiveness, nor can I take it away; I can simply provide the liberty to read, to listen, to see, to understand.”

Boulanger on helping composers find their own

voice

“Nadia Boulanger knew everything there was to know about music; she knew the oldest and latest music, pre-Bach and post-Stravinsky. All technical know-how was at her fingertips: harmonic transposition, the figured bass, score reading, organ registration, instrumental techniques, structural analyses, the school fugue and the free fugue, the Greek modes and Gregorian chant.” – Aaron Copland

Copland on Boulanger

Invitation to White House (Kennedy) OBE (Order of the British Empire) Légion of Honor (1977) Grand Officer Order of the Crown of Belgium Order of St. Charles (Monaco) Juror, International Tchaikovsky Competition

(Moscow) 1966 Many more

Achievements/Honors

Shaping the next generation of composers

Boulanger and Igor Stravinsky (1937)

Boulanger never taught Stravinsky, but championed his music and conducted the premiere of his “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto.

Igor Stravinsky

Maverick & 20th Century Master

St. Petersburg => Paris => Los Angeles

1882-1971 Son of Bass Opera

singer Grew up in St.

Petersburg Student of Rimsky-

Kosakov (1905-08) Settled in West

Hollywood by 1945 Lived in LA longer than

any other city

Portrait by Picasso (1920)

Stravinsky and Chanel

Stravinsky and Coco Chanel met in 1920 (rumored affair)

Stravinsky and family stayed at Chanel’s country house outside Paris

Financially supported Ballet Russes and Stravinsky

Wetherly Drive

(off Sunset Blvd.)

And the Grammy goes to…

Posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1987)

Grammy 1962 – Best classical performance (Stravinsky conducting)

Grammy 1962 – Best Instrumental performance (Stravinsky conducting)