When Stravinsky left Russia and came to Western Europe, he was often interviewed, not only by specialist critics writing for musical periodicals, but also by newspaper journalists. The results were sometimes disastrous. In the mid-thirties he decided to put the record straight by writing a Chronicle of his Life. In his introduction to the first volume he recalled:

In the numerous interviews I have given, my thoughts, my words, and evenjacts, have often been disfigured to the extent of becoming absolutely un-recognisable.