Igor Stravinsky Essay -- Music

Igor StravinskyIn the passage by Igor Stravinsky, he uses not only comparison and contrast, but also language to convey his point of view astir(predicate) the conductors of the time and their extreme egotism. Stravinsky believes that conductors exploit the music for their own personal gain, so rather, he looks on them in a negative light. To show his aggravation and irritation, Stravinsky uses the rhetorical device of comparison and contrast to convey his opinion of conductors. He compares the great conductors to great actors in that they are unable(p) to play anything but themselves. Moreover, being unable to adapt, they have to adapt the work to themselves, not themselves to the work, which is obviously offending to a notable composer such as Stravinsky. In addition, he attributes the egocentric view of the conductors to the attention of the public who make more of the conductors gestures and appearance than the music quality. The public is then compared to the reviewers and cri tics, who also habitually fall into the trap of describing a conductors appearance rather than the focussing he makes the music sound. Furthermore, Stravinsky goes on to say, for a public that is incapable of listening, the conductor will tell them what to feel through his gestures. He notes that these people, the conductors, have a mellowed incidence of ego disease which grows like a the sun of a tropical weed under pandering public illustrating that the conductors perform for and are inspired by th...