Poetics of Music in the Form of Six Lessons (Muzykalnaya Poetika)

This book is a series of lectures on musical poetics given by Igor Stravinsky at Harvard University in 1939–1940. In a vivid and figurative language accessible even to the uninitiated, this brilliant composer discusses the fundamental elements that shape musical creativity. What is music? Where does inspiration come from, and what materials does a creator use in their work? How should music be performed? And what is the fate of Russian musical art?