Quotes by Composer | Beyond Motive

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Quotes by Composer

"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

87

"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

79

"The real art of conducting consists in transitions."

"The real art of conducting consists in transitions."

Gustav Mahler, Austrian Composer

64

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

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

Franz Liszt, Hungarian Composer

60

"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

57

"Competitions are for horses, not artists."

"Competitions are for horses, not artists."

Bela Bartok, Hungarian Composer

Artist, Artists, Horses

54

"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

53

"Music is organized sound."

"Music is organized sound."

Edgard Varese, American Composer

52

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

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

Leonard Bernstein, American Composer

52

"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

51

"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

51

"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

49

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

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

Aulis Sallinen, Finnish Composer

47

"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

45

"It is never right to play ragtime fast."

"It is never right to play ragtime fast."

Scott Joplin, American Composer

45

"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

44

"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

44

"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

43

"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

43

"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

42

"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

42

"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

42

"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

41

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

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

Arvo Part, Estonian Composer

41

"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

40

"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

39

"Why is it that whenever I hear a piece of music I don't like, it's always by Villa-Lobos?"

"Why is it that whenever I hear a piece of music I don't like, it's always by Villa-Lobos?"

Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer

39

"Communication works for those who work at it."

"Communication works for those who work at it."

John Powell, American Composer

Work, Communication

39

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

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

Oscar Levant, American Composer

38

"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

37

"I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well."

"I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well."

Johannes Sebastian Bach, German Composer

37

"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

36

"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

32

"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

32

"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

31

"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal."

"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal."

Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer

Artist, Artists

31

"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

31

"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

31

"I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken; the choosing was not. You have to move on."

"I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken; the choosing was not. You have to move on."

Stephen Sondheim, American Composer

Choice, May, World

31

"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

30

"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

30

"What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven."

"What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven."

Ludwig van Beethoven, German Composer

30

"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

29

"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

29

"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

29

"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

28

"It is easy to write unthinking music."

"It is easy to write unthinking music."

George Crumb, American Composer

28

"Why waste money on psychotherapy when you can listen to the B Minor Mass?"

"Why waste money on psychotherapy when you can listen to the B Minor Mass?"

Michael Torke, American Composer

27

"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

26

"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

26

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