Igor Stravinsky is probably one of the two most important composers of the 20th century, alongside Arnold Schoenberg. While Schoenberg started abandoning the element of “key” in his compositional style, called dodecaphony or the twelve-tone technique, Stravinsky began exploring such methods as writing in two keys simultaneously. His groundbreaking innovations were in the field of rhythmic structures, largely responsible for Stravinsky's reputation as a revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design. His stylistic diversity, the construction of extended melodic ideas out of a few two- or three-note cells and clarity of form, and of instrumentation are qualities that established Stravinsky as a giant of his time. In his explorations of different music, he became fascinated with jazz, particularly with ragtime which was the prominent musical form when Stravinsky first met with American music. He wrote several pieces inspired by jazz music, three of which he wrote during the First World War and are the most jazz-influenced compositions: “L'histoire du Soldat,” “Ragtime for Eleven Instruments,” and “Piano-Rag-Music.” Although he flirted with jazz forms during his whole life, the only other jazz composition he wrote was in 1945 for the Woody Herman’s band, entitled Ebony Concerto, written at a time when Stravinsky was fascinated by be-bop. He has said that "the jazz performers I most admired at that time were Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, and the guitarist Charles Christian.”
But, as with his contemporary Dmitri Shostakovich who was also intrigued by the new American music, Stravinsky didn’t copy the original ragtime idiom. As he said himself: “jazz patterns and especially jazz instrumental combinations did influence me forty years ago, of course, but not the idea of jazz.” He used the rhythmic patterns of a pianist left hand over which he pasted melodic lines. He didn’t write jazz; he just let the new music of the 20th century enter his spirit and plant ideas. Talking about his “L’Histoire” and “Rag-Time” Stravinsky described them as “snapshots” or “portraits” of the genre, as Chopin’s “Valses” were portraits rather than actual dances. In the same interview, he stated “by 1919 I had heard live bands and discovered that jazz performance is more interesting than jazz composition. I am referring to my non-metrical pieces for piano solo and clarinet solo, which are not real improvisations, of course, but written-out portraits of improvisation.”
