The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-02-11
In. New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

l New York In the personal column of a morning newspaper was discreet little three-jine item to the effect that Igor Stravinsky would autograph phoEograph re- cords and copies of hiG music for l purchasers at So-and-So's music company at a certain time.
 | was on hand because want ed to see the man who is to music what Picasso Is to painting and James Joyce, or maybe >GeEtra1e Stein, Is to literature. Besides .@ session of autographing is a fi1~ time for observation of a ccletrify. Either he proves that he can t.,':> 1t, or that he can't. Maybe yoL recall the accounts of how Ai T. ander Woollcott behaved in Clo.e- land. understand some of tie books In their basements, and ,x- hume them only;on demand. l Stravinsky proved. in soInG ways. disappointment. No tan- trums. The modern composer who has infuriated several of the worlds best audiences, and has shocked critics to the verge of apopjlcxy. was calmer than any one else in the place. He had an advantage. because he speaks very Title English and seems to under- stand none at all. Thus he was spared encounters with gushy mu- sic-lovers who tried to chat with him, and with the woman who thought she was being cheated be- cause he signed her purchase 1T. Stravinsky" instead of Igor Stra- vinsky."
 Looks Belle His Age His aides, secretaries and stooges bore the brunt of the crO Is cur iosity and impatience. They spoke soothingly to the great man in French, hustled the line of custom CTS along, and whisked portfolios to and from the masters pen. He I just sat there and yielded the pen, which was dipped now and then into white ink. He wore a heavy ring on the third finger of each hand, and a watch on each wrist.
 Now and then he grinned = probably with amusement over his first experience in wholesale au- tographing. His straight hair and | mustache are thin. and his face II Is lined, yet he looks no more than 35 of his 52 years.
 In one corner of the room I had a whispered conversation with a small man who had been pushed around quite bit but who evil dently wasn't going to be bullied into leaving. He told me some things about Stravinsky:
 Wasn't boy prodigy. Didn't study music until after he had studied law. For 25 years his I <xsstk kt<,v. A f.,f .f ,l ltf, sonnances which many people now sem to enjoy and which others frankly don't. His "Le Sacre du Printemps". presented in Paris in 1913 was so unmelodious and ds- jointed that the uninitiated audi cncc thought it was being h0lxcd and tried to hoot Stayinsky off the stage. To-day that composition is recognized as great modern mas terpiece.
 Third American Tour
 Lately he has ben accused of going back to Bach" because some of his pieces seem to make q little sense. This doesn't bother StraV- insky. however. because he enjoys confounding the critics. He is not only composer and conductor. but flne pianist. Says it's silly foi a conductor to wave his arms wide- ly and hop. about during q con cert: shows the batonccr either is an exhibitionist or that he hasn't trained his orchestra properly. ;.
 This is Stravinsky's third Amer ican visit--1915. 1925. 1885. He lives In Paris mostly. has a wife and four children. 6 lot of friends. land Is known as very modest fellow. The children all are arr tistically talented. in music or painting. Papa works most of the time. transcribing his music neat ly by hand. Says he'll never be completely happy until somebody invents musical typewriter that he can use.
 I discovered that the man with whom I'd been talking was sam uel Dushkln, the American violin ist and for the past i've years Stravinsky's collaborator. They're going on q coast ito -coast tour to- gcthcr, giving joint recitals. To cover my embarrassment rushed out and bought a record of Suite de Pulcinella (Tocata and Ga votte: Variations and 9. Didn't get 1t autographed. I can't make much out of 1t anyway.