Famous Quotes by Composers gives us an inside look at what some of the music masters valued. We get to understand them a bit more. It makes listening to the music a bit more personal.
The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul. — Johann Sebastian Bach
There’s nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
— Johann Sebastian Bach
I shall seize Fate by the throat; it shall certainly not bend and crush me completely.
— Ludwig van Beethoven, letter to F G Wegeler, 1801
Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.
— Ludwig van Beethoven, quoted by Bettina von Arnin, letter to Goethe, 1810
Muss es sein? Es muss sein! Es muss sein! (Must it be? It must be! It must be!)
— Ludwig van Beethoven, comment written on the finale of his String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135
He is the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb.
— Ludwig van Beethoven, quoted in Percy M Young, Handel (1947)
When I open my eyes I must sigh, for what I see is contrary to my religion, and I must despise the world which does not know that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
— Ludwig van Beethoven, quoted by Bettina von Arnin, letter to Goethe, 1810
Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est. (Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over.)
— Ludwig van Beethoven, on his deathbed, 1827
Handel understands effect better than any of us — when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.
— Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, quoted in Percy M Young, Handel (1947)
Schumann is the composer of childhood… both because he created a children’s imaginative world and because children learn some of their first music in his marvellous piano albums.
— Igor Stravinsky, Themes and Conclusions (1972)
Only when the form grows clear to you, will the spirit become so too.
— Robert Schumann, Advice to Young Musicians (1848)
Endeavour to play easy pieces well and beautifully; that is better than to play difficult pieces indifferently well. When you play, never mind who listens to you. Play always as if in the presence of a master.
— Schumann
He came not with an orchestral army, as great geniuses are wont to come. He possesses only a little cohort, but it belongs to him wholly and entirely, even to the last hero.
— Schumann
I hope these quotes afforded you a moment to ponder and reflect. Each of these famous composers reached a level in their music that few attain.
Enjoy your musical journey.
~Piano Lesson Girl
Dakota
