What drives the wise

“There is hardly any treatise which could be too learned for me. I have not the slightest pretension to what is properly called erudition. Yet from my childhood I have striven to understand what the better and wiser people of every age were driving at in their works. Shame on an artist who does not consider it his duty to achieve at least as much.”

– Beethoven, in a letter to Breitkopf and Härtel, November 2, 1809.

Anderson, Emily, ed. (1961) The Letters of Beethoven. 3 Vol., London: St. Martin’s Press. Letter 228. Cited in: Marek, George (1969) Beethoven: Biography of a Genius. London: William Kimber, p.178.

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

Featured Content

The King’s Entrance
Title: The King’s Entrance Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano duet Level: Piano I –  1 (five finger position) Product medium: PDF score and MP3 accompaniment track (Audio sample of accompaniment track only)
Believe in Luck
“I am a great believer in luck and the harder I work the more of it I have.”— Stephen Leacock, Canadian author American Opinion, volume 2, issues 8-11, page 20
Culture is our fuel
“‘Culture is our petrol,’ says Toumani Diabaté, the Malian kora player who has collaborated with Damon Albarn and Björk, to name but a few. ‘Music is our mineral wealth. There isn’t a single major music prize in the world today that hasn’t been won by a Malian artist.’ ‘Music regulates the life of every Malian’, […]
Born for music
“I was born with eyes closed listening to my heartbeat from my mother’s womb… There, without knowing it, I discovered that I would be born and would die for music…” – Alicastro Source: Peer Music.‘
Sondheim on audiences
“I do think audiences become more sophisticated. You try something out on them and they say, “Ugh”. You try it a second time and they say, “Oh”. You try it a third time and they say, “Ooh”. You try it a fourth time and they say, “Oh, that’s awfully old hat.”’ He laughs. ‘That’s the […]
Abstraction VIII
Title: Abstraction VIII Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score SAMPLE:
Quotes
QUICK LINKS: Audience reception Composers General Performance practice Performers Style Symbolism Teaching methods The creative process The experience of art The purpose of the arts Work ethic Works See also: ANECDOTES AUDIENCE RECEPTION Quick links COMPOSERS Quick links GENERAL Quick links PERFORMANCE PRACTICE Quick links PERFORMERS Quick links STYLE Quick links SYMBOLISM Quick links TEACHING […]
Knowledge of truth
This knowledge of truth, combined with proper regard for it, and its faithful observance, constitutes true education. The mere stuffing of the mind with a knowledge of facts is not education. The mind must not only posses a knowledge of truth, but the soul must revere it, cherish it, love it as a priceless gem; […]
How we decorate space and time
“Art is how we decorate space; music is how we decorate time.” Jean-Michel Basquiat,  street artist
The nature of music
“A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it goes on to become.” – W. H. Auden, English Poet Auden, Wystan Hugh ‎(1988) The Complete Words of Auden, Princeton University Press, vol. 3, p. 251.