Berlioz on editorial license

“You musicians, you poets, prose-writers, actors, pianists, conductors, whether of third or second or even first rank, you do not have the right to meddle with a Shakespeare or a Beethoven, in order to bestow on them the blessings of your knowledge and taste.”

– Hector Berlioz, on tampering with fine creations (in this case, 1801 Paris performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute)

Cited in: Mac Donald, Heather, “Classical Music’s New Golden Age”, City Journal, Summer 2010, vol 20, no. 3, accessed 21 July 2010.

Click here to view article

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

, , , ,

Featured Content

Style
The technique of conducting
“Technique is communication: the two words are synonymous in conductors.” – Leonard Bernstein, conductor, composer and pianist. Cited at QuotationsBook.  
Beauty
The academic teaching on beauty is false. We have been misled, but so completely misled that we can no longer find so much as a shadow of a truth again. The beauties of the Parthenon, the Venuses, the Nymphs, the Narcisusses, are so many lies. Art is not the application of a canon of beauty, […]
Satie’s day
Satie wrote that “An artist must organise his life.” In 1913, he set said out a schedule in which he stated he would be inspired between 10:23 and 11:47am, and 3:12 to 4:10pm. The timetable allowed for daily house riding, and various other activities such as fencing, reflection, immobility, visits, contemplation, swimming, etc. The day […]
Adequate musicians
How do you rate your music? We’re not good musicians.  Just adequate. Then why are you so popular? Maybe people like adequate music. – Interviewer and the Beatles. Cited in: Jarski, Rosemarie (2005) Great British Wit.  London: Ebury Press, p. 203.
Vaughan Williams on an authentic performance of Bach
Vaughan Williams gave a broadcast talk on Bach entitled “Bach the Great Bourgeois.” It was later published in The Listener. Vaughan Williams, who was involved in performances of works such as Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion as part of the Leith Hill Festival, offered some insight in contemporary approaches to Bach performance: WHEN I was a […]
Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67
I. Andante-Moderato II. Allegro non troppo III. Largo IV. Allegretto Having recently finished his Eighth Symphony, Shostakovich stated work on his second Piano Trio in late 1943: Chamber music demands of a composer the most impeccable technique and depth of thought. I don’t think I will be wrong if I say that composers sometimes hide […]
Nino Rota on happiness and music
“When I’m creating at the piano, I tend to feel happy; but – the eternal dilemma – how can we be happy amid the unhappiness of others? I’d do everything I could to give everyone a moment of happiness. That’s what’s at the heart of my music.” Nino Rota, Italian composer. Cited at: Wikipedia.
Abstraction IX
Title: Abstraction IX Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Brass quintet (2 trumpets in B-flat, Horn in F, trombone, bass trombone) Product medium: PDF score and parts SAMPLE:
Personality
“Personality is to a man what perfume is to a flower.” – Charles M. Schwab, The Ten Commandments of Success