Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • Chapter 14 - Assuming Co-authorship: Stravinsky and His ‘Ghostwriters’

  • from Part III - Partnerships and Authorship
  • Edited by Graham Griffiths, City, University of London
  • Book:
    Stravinsky in Context
    Published online:
    03 December 2020
    Print publication:
    17 December 2020, pp 125-132

  • Summary

    Discussion of Stravinsky’s so-called ghostwriters usually focuses on Chroniques de ma vie (1935) and Poétique musicale (1939) – two books, originally written and published in French, which the composer produced during the interwar period.1 This is because Stravinsky is presented as the sole author of both volumes even though, strictly speaking, he wrote neither. ‘Ghostwriter’ has become a commonplace to describe those who collaborated with Stravinsky, but the term’s connotations of imposture make it unsuited for describing the composer’s complex relationship with the act of writing, his routine for preparing texts and the workings of what might be called his ‘idea mill’. Stravinsky himself only rarely, and somewhat reluctantly, admitted the important role played by the many co-authors involved in drafting his writings. In turn, his collaborators seem to have accepted the arrangement without hesitation, often as a form of devotion to the composer.