Collected Essays on Stravinsky and Classical Music

The early chapters in this volume address the dynamics of his music from a number of analytic-theoretical perspectives. Examined initially are the features of harmony, melody, and rhythm that would remain characteristic of his music regardless of the changes in stylistic orientation.

Pieter C. van den Toorn is professor of music emeritus at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, in 1938, he attended Amherst College and Harvard University before studying for several years with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, France. Subsequently, in 1986, he received his PhD in music from the University of California at Berkeley. His books include The Music of Igor Stravinsky (1983), Stravinsky and ＂The Rite of Spring＂ (1987), Music, Politics, and the Academy (1995), Stravinsky and the Russian Period (with John McGinness, 2012), Simply Stravinsky (2020), and The Music of Stravinsky: Collected Essays (2023). Stravinsky and ＂The Rite of Spring＂ won the ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor Award and the Outstanding Publication Award of the Society for Music Theory.