Quotes by Composer | Beyond Motive

top of page

Quotes by Composer

"Tell me, I forget, show me, I remember, involve me, I understand."

"Tell me, I forget, show me, I remember, involve me, I understand."

Carl Orff, German Composer

59

"I foster a sorrowful conception of affection. Make no sacrifices."

"I foster a sorrowful conception of affection. Make no sacrifices."

Franz Liszt, Hungarian Composer

48

"The real art of conducting consists in transitions."

"The real art of conducting consists in transitions."

Gustav Mahler, Austrian Composer

44

"Music is organized sound."

"Music is organized sound."

Edgard Varese, American Composer

44

"Silence is the pause in me when I am near to God."

"Silence is the pause in me when I am near to God."

Arvo Part, Estonian Composer

43

"Wagner has lovely moments but awful quarters of an hour."

"Wagner has lovely moments but awful quarters of an hour."

Gioachino Rossini, Italian Composer

Moment, Moments

42

"Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable."

"Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable."

Leonard Bernstein, American Composer

40

"The trouble with music appreciation in general is that people are taught to have too much respect for music they should be taught to love it instead."

"The trouble with music appreciation in general is that people are taught to have too much respect for music they should be taught to love it instead."

Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer

Love, Music, People, Appreciation

39

"In love's godlike breathing, there's the innermost aspect of the universe."

"In love's godlike breathing, there's the innermost aspect of the universe."

Alexander Scriabin, Russian Composer

38

"But I do not want to use Hungarian verses for British people."

"But I do not want to use Hungarian verses for British people."

Gyorgy Ligeti, Hungarian Composer

37

"It is never right to play ragtime fast."

"It is never right to play ragtime fast."

Scott Joplin, American Composer

36

"I think it was when I was nineteen, by that time the Jewish laws were already in force and the split was beginning to come about which isolated the Jewish culture."

"I think it was when I was nineteen, by that time the Jewish laws were already in force and the split was beginning to come about which isolated the Jewish culture."

Gyorgy Ligeti, Hungarian Composer

Time, Beginning, Culture, Force

34

"There's some familiarity in Celtic music, even if you've never heard that piece of music before."

"There's some familiarity in Celtic music, even if you've never heard that piece of music before."

Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese Composer

Music, Familiarity

32

"I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener."

"I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener."

Arvo Part, Estonian Composer

Music, Light, Spirit

32

"I feel that all good art is powerful and simple."

"I feel that all good art is powerful and simple."

Aulis Sallinen, Finnish Composer

32

"That is, the only reason salvation is necessary is to get us back to the garden. The Pentateuch not only presents where we began but also why we are not there any more, and why and how we need to get back."

"That is, the only reason salvation is necessary is to get us back to the garden. The Pentateuch not only presents where we began but also why we are not there any more, and why and how we need to get back."

David Baker, American Composer

Gardening, Garden, Reason, Salvation

32

"But if you go from Moscow to Budapest you think you are in Paris."

"But if you go from Moscow to Budapest you think you are in Paris."

Gyorgy Ligeti, Hungarian Composer

31

"Tintinnabulation is an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for answers - in my life, my music, my work. In my dark hours, I have the certain feeling that everything outside this one thing has no meaning."

"Tintinnabulation is an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for answers - in my life, my music, my work. In my dark hours, I have the certain feeling that everything outside this one thing has no meaning."

Arvo Part, Estonian Composer

Life, Music, Work, Answers

31

"A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything."

"A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything."

Gustav Mahler, Austrian Composer

30

"Once, in London, the BBC asked me what was my favorite English book. I said Alice in Wonderland."

"Once, in London, the BBC asked me what was my favorite English book. I said Alice in Wonderland."

Gyorgy Ligeti, Hungarian Composer

Language, Favorite, London

29

"Communication works for those who work at it."

"Communication works for those who work at it."

John Powell, American Composer

Work, Communication

29

"Competitions are for horses, not artists."

"Competitions are for horses, not artists."

Bela Bartok, Hungarian Composer

Artist, Artists, Horses

28

"I was once married to a woman who could eat anything and tell you what was in it: the most complicated recipes. Her memory of taste - now that's what I call memory!"

"I was once married to a woman who could eat anything and tell you what was in it: the most complicated recipes. Her memory of taste - now that's what I call memory!"

Morton Feldman, American Composer

Memory, Now, Taste, Woman

28

"I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin."

"I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin."

Oscar Levant, American Composer

27

"The human voice is the most perfect instrument of all."

"The human voice is the most perfect instrument of all."

Arvo Part, Estonian Composer

27

"The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play."

"The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play."

Richard Strauss, German Composer

27

"I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge."

"I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge."

Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer

Life, Wisdom, Knowledge, Mistakes

26

"I hope you will no longer accuse me of a lack of delicacy. as I now count on your understanding."

"I hope you will no longer accuse me of a lack of delicacy. as I now count on your understanding."

Gustav Mahler, Austrian Composer

Hope, Now, Understanding, Will

25

"There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot."

"There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot."

John Cage, American Composer

Time, Fact, May, Silence

25

"I firmly believe lyrics have to breathe and give the audience's ear a chance to understand what's going on. Particularly in the theater, where you have costume, story, acting, orchestra."

"I firmly believe lyrics have to breathe and give the audience's ear a chance to understand what's going on. Particularly in the theater, where you have costume, story, acting, orchestra."

Stephen Sondheim, American Composer

Acting, Chance, Theater

23

"Inspiration could be called inhaling the memory of an act never experienced."

"Inspiration could be called inhaling the memory of an act never experienced."

Ned Rorem, American Composer

Inspirational, Inspiration, Act, Memory

23

"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing."

"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing."

John Powell, American Composer

Mistake, Nothing

23

"There is no doubt that the first requirement for a composer is to be dead."

"There is no doubt that the first requirement for a composer is to be dead."

Arthur Honegger, Swiss Composer

22

"I haven't understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it."

"I haven't understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it."

Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer

22

"The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution."

"The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution."

Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer

Execution, Self

22

"Love cannot express the idea of music, while music may give an idea of love."

"Love cannot express the idea of music, while music may give an idea of love."

Hector Berlioz, French Composer

Love, Music, Idea, May

22

"Music, which should pulsate with life, needs new means of expression, and science alone can infuse it with youthful vigor."

"Music, which should pulsate with life, needs new means of expression, and science alone can infuse it with youthful vigor."

Edgard Varese, American Composer

Science, Life, Music, Expression

21

"Life that only a few hours before had glowed with enthusiasm and exultation, suddenly paled and sickened."

"Life that only a few hours before had glowed with enthusiasm and exultation, suddenly paled and sickened."

Fritz Kreisler, Austrian Composer

Life, Enthusiasm

21

"One can't judge Wagner's opera Lohengrin after a first hearing, and I certainly don't intend to hear it a second time."

"One can't judge Wagner's opera Lohengrin after a first hearing, and I certainly don't intend to hear it a second time."

Gioachino Rossini, Italian Composer

Time, First, Hearing, Opera

20

"I have nothing to say, I am saying it, and that is poetry."

"I have nothing to say, I am saying it, and that is poetry."

John Cage, American Composer

Poetry, Nothing, Saying

20

"Composers dialogue - and obsessively, bitterly argue - with other composers, often over the span of several centuries."

"Composers dialogue - and obsessively, bitterly argue - with other composers, often over the span of several centuries."

Brian Ferneyhough, British Composer

Composer, Composers

19

"It is easy to write unthinking music."

"It is easy to write unthinking music."

George Crumb, American Composer

19

"I'm going to take the kids away over Christmas but I don't, I've written 14 musicals now, I don't want to rush into doing something just for the sake of doing it. I want to do it when I find a story."

"I'm going to take the kids away over Christmas but I don't, I've written 14 musicals now, I don't want to rush into doing something just for the sake of doing it. I want to do it when I find a story."

Andrew Lloyd Webber, British Composer

Christmas, Kids, Now, Want

18

"I always voted at my party's call, and I never thought of thinking for myself at all."

"I always voted at my party's call, and I never thought of thinking for myself at all."

William Gilbert, British Composer

Thought, Party, Thinking

18

"Wagner is a composer who has beautiful moments but awful quarter hours."

"Wagner is a composer who has beautiful moments but awful quarter hours."

Gioachino Rossini, Italian Composer

Moment, Moments

18

"A plague on eminence! I hardly dare cross the street anymore without a convoy, and I am stared at wherever I go like an idiot member of a royal family or an animal in a zoo; and zoo animals have been known to die from stares."

"A plague on eminence! I hardly dare cross the street anymore without a convoy, and I am stared at wherever I go like an idiot member of a royal family or an animal in a zoo; and zoo animals have been known to die from stares."

Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer

Family, Animals

18

"I learned from my uncle that jazz, like symphony music, was built to last."

"I learned from my uncle that jazz, like symphony music, was built to last."

David Amram, American Composer

17

"Well I live in Vienna with my wife and son, and I teach in Hamburg, there will be no changes in that respect."

"Well I live in Vienna with my wife and son, and I teach in Hamburg, there will be no changes in that respect."

Gyorgy Ligeti, Hungarian Composer

Wife, Son, Respect, Will

17

"For Debussy the musician and the man I have had profound admiration, but by nature I'm different from him. I think I have always personally followed a direction opposed to that of the symbolism of Debussy."

"For Debussy the musician and the man I have had profound admiration, but by nature I'm different from him. I think I have always personally followed a direction opposed to that of the symbolism of Debussy."

Maurice Ravel, French Composer

Nature, Admiration, Direction, Man

17

"Mozart wrote so many works in his thirty-five years that it would take a lifetime just to write out the notes. We literally do not know how he did it."

"Mozart wrote so many works in his thirty-five years that it would take a lifetime just to write out the notes. We literally do not know how he did it."

Lukas Foss, German Composer

17

bottom of page