Expositions and Developments

Expositions and Developments brings readers into the collaborative reflections of Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, offering an intimate portrait of one of the twentieth century’s most influential composers. Organized as extended dialogues, the book intertwines personal recollections, musical commentary, and cultural history. Stravinsky recalls formative childhood impressions in St. Petersburg, the artistic ferment of pre-revolutionary Russia, and the cosmopolitan encounters that shaped his career. Craft’s questions draw out the composer’s wit and candor, yielding vivid accounts of friendships with figures such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, Ravel, and Diaghilev, as well as reflections on performers, conductors, and the evolution of Stravinsky’s own aesthetic. Together, these conversations provide a rare blend of autobiography and critical exegesis, anchored in the contexts that produced The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring, and later neoclassical and sacred works.

At once memoir, interview, and cultural document, this volume illuminates the intersections of music, literature, religion, and politics across Europe and America from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth. Appendices include Stravinsky’s own compositions—such as the Berceuse and a choral work with text by T. S. Eliot—alongside a checklist of Tchaikovsky sources for Le Baiser de la fée, underscoring the depth of Stravinsky’s dialogue with past masters. Richly illustrated with photographs spanning his life and career, Expositions and Developments offers scholars, performers, and general readers an indispensable resource: an insider’s perspective on the creative processes, cultural milieus, and personal experiences that shaped modern music.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1962.