Search - Igor Stravinsky :: Octet to Orpheus: The Neo-Classical Stravinsky

Of all the major composers of the 20th century, none was more warmly embraced by the world of Rock music than Stravinsky. Along with Edgard Varese, he was the principal influence on the compositions of Frank Zappa, while numerous avant-garde and Progressive Rock bands - among them Yes, who would take the stage to the accompaniment of The Firebird - proclaimed him their guiding light. The obvious reasons for this are his pioneering use of powerful and unusual rhythms, his music's lack of sentimentality, its waspish wit, its anti-authoritarianism - not to mention the composer's love of good whisky - all found obvious counterparts in the Rock lifestyle, even if his meticulous approach to discipline did not. El Records. 2008.