Musical emotion isn’t found in practicing scales, it depends on the aural story that the composer has set. So I started to do research into who Igor Stravinsky was, why his music had always sounded different to me, and how I can accurately use this research to influence how I play his music. This evolved into doing so much research that I wanted to share it with the world, and how it related to me as a bassoonist, hence my #stravinskysaturday series. One of the overall themes that I’ve discovered about Stravinsky, that I believe relates to anyone who listens to or plays his music, is the fact that he was an unabashed leader who did not let controversy, quarrels, or disfavor, influence the genius that he must have known existed in his works.

He always wrote what he felt, regardless of whether or not it would be accepted, and possessed the ability to make those feelings come to life with a uniquely musical touch. This begins the answer to why I have always loved his music. His music is for the sake of feeling, not for the sake of how one will react to that feeling. That concept, along with his style as a pioneering composer, is what catapulted him not only ahead of the composers of his time, but what secured him as one of the greatest composers in history. It’s also why, in my opinion, Stravinsky’s music continues to be important to audiences today. Every person will react in a different way upon listening. Some will be abhorred, some enraptured, some not amused. The important thing is that you felt something at all.

Morgan Davison is a Bassoonist and graduate student at The Juilliard School.

IG: morganpracticesbassoon