You can't possibly hear the la...

You can't possibly hear the last movement of Beethoven's Seventh and go slow.

~Oscar Levant~

Without craftsmanship, inspira...

Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.

~Johannes Brahms~

When I speak of the gifted lis...

When I speak of the gifted listener, I am thinking of the non-musician primarily, of the listener who intends to retain his amateur status. It is the thought of just such a listener that excites the composer in me.

~Aaron Copland~

What is best in music is not t...

What is best in music is not to be found within the notes.

~Gustav Mahler~

This will be our response to v...

This will be our response to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully and more devotedly than ever before.

~Leonard Bernstein~

There's nothing remarkable abo...

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~

The whole problem can be state...

The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, Is there a meaning to music? My answer would be, 'Yes.' And Can you state in so many words what the meaning is? My answer to that would be, 'No.'

~Aaron Copland~

The trouble with music appreci...

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~

The notes I handle no better t...

The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes - ah, that is where the art resides!

~Artur Schnabel~

The key to the mystery of a gr...

The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another…and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.

~Leonard Bernstein~

The advice I am giving always ...

The advice I am giving always to all my students is above all to study the music profoundly... music is like the ocean, and the instruments are little or bigger islands, very beautiful for the flowers and trees...

~Andre Segovia~

Musical compositions, it shoul...

Musical compositions, it should be remembered, do not inhabit certain countries, certain museums, like paintings and statues. The Mozart Quintet is not shut up in Salzburg: I have it in my pocket.

~Henri Rabaud~

Music is your own experience, ...

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.

~Charlie Parker~

Music is the wine which inspir...

Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken.

~Ludwig van Beethoven~

Music is an outburst of the so...

Music is an outburst of the soul.

~Frederick Delius~

Music is a higher revelation t...

Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.

~Ludwig van Beethoven~

Music can name the unnameable ...

Music can name the unnameable and communicate the knowable.

~Leonard Bernstein~

Melody is the essence of music...

Melody is the essence of music. I compare a good melodist to a fine racer, and counterpoints to hack post-horses.

~Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart~

Inspiration is an awakening, a...

Inspiration is an awakening, a quickening of all man's faculties, and it is manifested in all high artistic achievements.

~Puccini~

If anyone has conducted a Beet...

If anyone has conducted a Beethoven performance, and then doesn't have to go to an osteopath, then there's something wrong.

~Simon Rattle~