Quotes by Composer | Beyond Motive 13/27

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Quotes by Composer

"In its beginnings, music was merely chamber music, meant to be listened to in a small space by a small audience."

"In its beginnings, music was merely chamber music, meant to be listened to in a small space by a small audience."

Gustav Mahler, Austrian Composer

Music, Beginnings, Space

27

"I listened to the rock music of that time, but as you know and can easily hear: my music of that era had nothing to do with the common music of this era. I was experimenting, I was searching for something new."

"I listened to the rock music of that time, but as you know and can easily hear: my music of that era had nothing to do with the common music of this era. I was experimenting, I was searching for something new."

Klaus Schulze, German Composer

Music, Time, Nothing

27

"The moral effect of the thundering of one's own artillery is most extraordinary, and many of us thought that we had never heard any more welcome sound than the deep roaring and crashing that started in at our rear."

"The moral effect of the thundering of one's own artillery is most extraordinary, and many of us thought that we had never heard any more welcome sound than the deep roaring and crashing that started in at our rear."

Fritz Kreisler, Austrian Composer

Thought, Deep, Effect, Sound

27

"In mainstream romantic comedies, I'm usually tearing my hair out. It's just a devastatingly difficult genre for me."

"In mainstream romantic comedies, I'm usually tearing my hair out. It's just a devastatingly difficult genre for me."

Carter Burwell, American Composer

27

"It is my fervent wish and my greatest ambition to leave a work with a few useful instructions for the pianists after me."

"It is my fervent wish and my greatest ambition to leave a work with a few useful instructions for the pianists after me."

Franz Liszt, Hungarian Composer

27

"My entire life has really revolved around music that was written about the time that I was born, 1908, to just before the First World War and shortly after it. This music I've always known, and it is that music that's most important to me."

"My entire life has really revolved around music that was written about the time that I was born, 1908, to just before the First World War and shortly after it. This music I've always known, and it is that music that's most important to me."

Elliott Carter, American Composer

Life, Music, Time, War

27

"Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do."

"Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do."

Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian Composer

God, Vision, Day, Gifts

27

"Anybody can put things together that belong together. to put things together that don't go together, and make it work, that takes genius like Mozart's. Yet he is presented in the play Amadeus as a kind of silly boy whom the gods loved."

"Anybody can put things together that belong together. to put things together that don't go together, and make it work, that takes genius like Mozart's. Yet he is presented in the play Amadeus as a kind of silly boy whom the gods loved."

Lukas Foss, German Composer

Work, Genius, Gods, Play

27

"In Hollywood, the rainbow hits the ground for composers."

"In Hollywood, the rainbow hits the ground for composers."

Hoagy Carmichael, American Composer

Composer, Composers, Hollywood

27

"Corny answer is of course is that everyone who wants musicals are children in different ways, aren't they? So you think of them in different ways. There are things of mine I'm sorry haven't come here."

"Corny answer is of course is that everyone who wants musicals are children in different ways, aren't they? So you think of them in different ways. There are things of mine I'm sorry haven't come here."

Andrew Lloyd Webber, British Composer

27

"People often thought Leopold Auer was Russian because he lived in St. Petersburg so long, almost fifty years."

"People often thought Leopold Auer was Russian because he lived in St. Petersburg so long, almost fifty years."

Gyorgy Ligeti, Hungarian Composer

Thought, People, Years

27

"I became aware that all sounds can make meaningful language."

"I became aware that all sounds can make meaningful language."

Karlheinz Stockhausen, German Composer

27

"When Philip Glass asked me if I would be interested in doing a new recording of Jesus' Blood he assumed that I would do something similar to the first version and wanted to know what other pieces would be on the same CD."

"When Philip Glass asked me if I would be interested in doing a new recording of Jesus' Blood he assumed that I would do something similar to the first version and wanted to know what other pieces would be on the same CD."

Gavin Bryars, English Composer

27

"One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music."

"One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music."

Stephen Sondheim, American Composer

Music, Poetry, Difference

27

"If people have split views about your work, I think it's flattering. I'd rather have them feel something about it than dismiss it."

"If people have split views about your work, I think it's flattering. I'd rather have them feel something about it than dismiss it."

Stephen Sondheim, American Composer

27

"Most artists have experienced the creative block. We get stuck in our work. We beat our head against the wall: nothing. Sometimes, it is because we are trying something at the wrong time."

"Most artists have experienced the creative block. We get stuck in our work. We beat our head against the wall: nothing. Sometimes, it is because we are trying something at the wrong time."

Lukas Foss, German Composer

Time, Work, Artists, Nothing

27

"A theatre receives recognition through its initiative, which is indispensable for first-rate performances."

"A theatre receives recognition through its initiative, which is indispensable for first-rate performances."

Franz Liszt, Hungarian Composer

27

"I would like to do a science fiction film some day. Star Wars seems really to have destroyed the genre, which at one time offered great musical opportunities."

"I would like to do a science fiction film some day. Star Wars seems really to have destroyed the genre, which at one time offered great musical opportunities."

Carter Burwell, American Composer

Science, Time, Day, Fiction

27

"Here's the truth. The proposed top rate of income tax is not 50 per cent. It is 50 per cent plus 1.5 per cent national insurance paid by employees plus 13.3 per cent paid by employers. That's not 50 per cent. Two years from now, Britain will have the highest tax rate on earned income of any developed country."

"Here's the truth. The proposed top rate of income tax is not 50 per cent. It is 50 per cent plus 1.5 per cent national insurance paid by employees plus 13.3 per cent paid by employers. That's not 50 per cent. Two years from now, Britain will have the highest tax rate on earned income of any developed country."

Andrew Lloyd Webber, British Composer

Truth, Country, Employees, Tax

27

"I wish to sing of my interior visions with the naive candour of a child."

"I wish to sing of my interior visions with the naive candour of a child."

Claude Debussy, French Composer

Vision, Visions

27

"I think being a little nuts is helpful."

"I think being a little nuts is helpful."

Carter Burwell, American Composer

27

"If a poet knows more about a horse than he does about heaven, he might better stick to the horse, and some day the horse may carry him into heaven."

"If a poet knows more about a horse than he does about heaven, he might better stick to the horse, and some day the horse may carry him into heaven."

Charles Ives, American Composer

Day, Heaven, May

27

"But that's fine, because I like to have control of the ambience."

"But that's fine, because I like to have control of the ambience."

Harold Budd, American Composer

27

"I think Michael Crawford realised, I think we all realised, once we'd gone the route of casting a very young girl, you can't really cast a 65 year old man opposite. Slightly different resonance I think. No, we weren't going to go there. We'd have Jack Nicholson in the lead."

"I think Michael Crawford realised, I think we all realised, once we'd gone the route of casting a very young girl, you can't really cast a 65 year old man opposite. Slightly different resonance I think. No, we weren't going to go there. We'd have Jack Nicholson in the lead."

Andrew Lloyd Webber, British Composer

27

"I'm one of those people who is actually inspired by a deadline. I might not sleep for many days on end, it may not be good for my health, but it definitely helps."

"I'm one of those people who is actually inspired by a deadline. I might not sleep for many days on end, it may not be good for my health, but it definitely helps."

Carter Burwell, American Composer

Health, People, End, May

27

"It must have been an extraordinary time. I guess the worrying thing about musical theatre to me, is if you look at the London season this year, mine is actually the only one to have come in."

"It must have been an extraordinary time. I guess the worrying thing about musical theatre to me, is if you look at the London season this year, mine is actually the only one to have come in."

Andrew Lloyd Webber, British Composer

Time, London, Theatre

27

"I really didn't have a plan, I just went in and started playing. one of my specialties was to be able to play for a really long time without stopping and I would play these repeated patterns for hours and hours and I wouldn't seem to get tired."

"I really didn't have a plan, I just went in and started playing. one of my specialties was to be able to play for a really long time without stopping and I would play these repeated patterns for hours and hours and I wouldn't seem to get tired."

Terry Riley, American Composer

27

"I think that the wonderful advantage we have in the film of being able to cast a girl as young as Emmy and which we couldn't do in the theatre of course because no girl of 16 or 17 could sing 8 shows a week, couldn't sing two."

"I think that the wonderful advantage we have in the film of being able to cast a girl as young as Emmy and which we couldn't do in the theatre of course because no girl of 16 or 17 could sing 8 shows a week, couldn't sing two."

Andrew Lloyd Webber, British Composer

Being, Film, Theatre

27

"I also had a brother who was like me a musician and a composer. A man of great talent, far more gifted than I. He died very young... he killed himself in the prime of his life."

"I also had a brother who was like me a musician and a composer. A man of great talent, far more gifted than I. He died very young... he killed himself in the prime of his life."

Gustav Mahler, Austrian Composer

Life, Brother, Talent, Man

27

"That is the way a great master carpenter feels, or an architect or composer or anyone who creates anything - people want to be appreciated for what they have done."

"That is the way a great master carpenter feels, or an architect or composer or anyone who creates anything - people want to be appreciated for what they have done."

David Amram, American Composer

27

"I spent most of the year in the studio for electronic music at a radio station in Cologne or in other studios where I produced new works with all kinds of electronic apparatus."

"I spent most of the year in the studio for electronic music at a radio station in Cologne or in other studios where I produced new works with all kinds of electronic apparatus."

Karlheinz Stockhausen, German Composer

27

"Acceleration is finite, I think according to some laws of physics."

"Acceleration is finite, I think according to some laws of physics."

Terry Riley, American Composer

Law, Laws, Physics

27

"There's an awful lot of resources that can be drawn upon in an improvised music concert."

"There's an awful lot of resources that can be drawn upon in an improvised music concert."

Fred Frith, English Composer

27

"Since the beginning of time, children have not liked to study. They would much rather play, and if you have their interests at heart, you will let them learn while they play; they will find that what they have mastered is child's play."

"Since the beginning of time, children have not liked to study. They would much rather play, and if you have their interests at heart, you will let them learn while they play; they will find that what they have mastered is child's play."

Carl Orff, German Composer

Time, Heart, Beginning, Children

27

"This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble."

"This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble."

Ludwig van Beethoven, German Composer

27

"It's like learning a language; you can't speak a language fluently until you find out who you are in that language, and that has as much to do with your body as it does with vocabulary and grammar."

"It's like learning a language; you can't speak a language fluently until you find out who you are in that language, and that has as much to do with your body as it does with vocabulary and grammar."

Fred Frith, English Composer

Body, Grammar, Language, Learning

27

"So now, thirty years, forty years later, I mean, I could find a whole orchestra of a thousand to put these things together in New York City alone. In those days, if I could scrape up twenty musicians to do this it was something extraordinary."

"So now, thirty years, forty years later, I mean, I could find a whole orchestra of a thousand to put these things together in New York City alone. In those days, if I could scrape up twenty musicians to do this it was something extraordinary."

Gunther Schuller, American Composer

Musicians, Now, Years

27

"Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity."

"Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity."

Modest Mussorgsky, Russian Composer

Art, End, Humanity

27

"Barbarians always think of themselves as the bringers of civilization."

"Barbarians always think of themselves as the bringers of civilization."

Pierre Schaeffer, French Composer

27

"To come to grips with creativity, I must ask creative, adventurous questions - the kind which, in all likelihood, cannot be answered."

"To come to grips with creativity, I must ask creative, adventurous questions - the kind which, in all likelihood, cannot be answered."

Lukas Foss, German Composer

Creativity, Questions

27

"I remember times when the whole music scene was just flourishing."

"I remember times when the whole music scene was just flourishing."

Roscoe Mitchell, American Composer

27

"Learning how to improvise really awakened my interest in music."

"Learning how to improvise really awakened my interest in music."

Carter Burwell, American Composer

Music, Interest, Learning

27

"Conductors' careers are made for the most part with 'Romantic' music. 'Classic' music eliminates the conductor; we do not remember him in it."

"Conductors' careers are made for the most part with 'Romantic' music. 'Classic' music eliminates the conductor; we do not remember him in it."

Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer

27

"Is it not by love alone that we succeed in penetrating to the very essence of being?"

"Is it not by love alone that we succeed in penetrating to the very essence of being?"

Igor Stravinsky, Russian Composer

Love, Being, Succeed

27

"The fabric of existence weaves itself whole."

"The fabric of existence weaves itself whole."

Charles Ives, American Composer

27

"They probably realized our interview would do more damage to their pro-"gay" piece - rather than help it."

"They probably realized our interview would do more damage to their pro-"gay" piece - rather than help it."

Stephen Bennett, American Composer

27

"Well we really meant you to visit Paris in May, but the rhythm required two syllables."

"Well we really meant you to visit Paris in May, but the rhythm required two syllables."

Vernon Duke, Russian Composer

May, Paris, Visit

27

"It was only later on that I became more interested in older music."

"It was only later on that I became more interested in older music."

Elliott Carter, American Composer

27

"Superstar was made so early in my career I had nothing to do with it at all. The first time I saw it was the opening screening."

"Superstar was made so early in my career I had nothing to do with it at all. The first time I saw it was the opening screening."

Andrew Lloyd Webber, British Composer

Time, Career, First, Nothing

27

"I wanted to make a classical piece that was actually designed to be a CD, not designed for performance."

"I wanted to make a classical piece that was actually designed to be a CD, not designed for performance."

Anne Dudley, English Composer

27

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