Go for long walksRachmaninoff once urged Horowitz to go for long walks. “If you don’t walk, your fingers will not run.” Abram Chasins, “The Return of Horowitz”, The Saturday Evening Post, October 22, 1966, p.102-3. Cited in: Gerig, Reginald (1974) Famous Pianists and Their Technique. Washington: Robert V. Luce, p.307.
I’ll Softly SighComposer: Greg Smith Title: I’ll Softly Sigh Instrumentation: Piano Performer: Greg Smith (2010) Your browser does not support the audio element. Sheet music
Individuality“I may not be better than other people, but at least I’m different.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Franco-Swiss philosopher and writer.
Elegie IITitle: Elegie II Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Cello and piano Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE:
Richter on Bach“It does no harm to listen to Bach from time to time, even if only from a hygienic standpoint.” – Sviatoslav Richter, pianist Monsaingeon, Bruno (2001). Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations. Princeton University Press, p.196. Cited at: Wikipedia
Horowitz’s stringent requirementsWhen Vladimir Horowitz performed in Japan: …. a kitchen had to be built in his suite because he insists that all his meals – fish or chicken only – be taken there. The electrical wiring ran afoul of Tokyo fire laws, requiring new wallpaper and a special floor. Several critics suggested in a music journal […]
The effect of audience reception on Stravinsky’s compositional processStravinksy on the public not particularly liking his music: Their attitude certainly cannot make me deviate from my path. I shall assuredly not sacrifice my predilections and my aspirations to the demands of those who, in their blindness, do not realize that they are simply asking me to go backwards … I could not follow […]
The fire of knowledge“When teaching, light a fire, don’t fill a bucket.” – Dan Snow, television presenter. Cited at QuotationsBook
The excitement of all possibilities“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of all possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” Gloria Steinem, writer http://www.gloriasteinem.com
The price of an encoreAt a concert in London in December 1911, Rachmaninoff was received to great acclaim: perhaps a little too much from the orchestra's view point, who wanted to play the rest of their program: The London Philharmonic Concert given on November 7, provided an object lesson in this study of the relation of applause to encores. […]