Eighteenth century aestheticsMozart was not at all a purely instinctive, intuitive artist. His remarks to the effect that he “loved to plan works, study, and meditate” and that “he preferred to work slowly and with deliberation” [demonstrate this] … On one level, Mozart’s musical aesthetic is informed by three fundamental and closely related principles that can be […]
A mushroom anyone?…everybody was possessed by the Russian passion for gathering mushrooms. Rivalries ran high, mushrooms were counted and compared, their beauty was discussed. Rachmaninoff was an early riser and often went alone for a walk in the woods. He used to return contented and start teasing (he was a great teaser). One day he badgered us […]
Understanding the rules“We think we understand the rules when we become adults but what we really experience is a narrowing of the imagination.” — David Lynch
Playing with fantasy“Without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of the imagination is incalculable.” – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and founder of Analytical Psychology Quoted at QuotationsBook
Vaughan Williams on sense of musical citizenshipVaughan Williams wrote a series of articles for the Royal College of Music magazine entitled “Who Wants the English Composer?”. In these, he expresses his advocacy for an exploration of the English musical style: We English composers are always saying, “Here are Wagner, Brahms, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, what fine fellows they are, let us try and […]
Evolving recordingsGwilym Gold has released an album that never plays the same way twice. Developed in collaboration with Lexxx and scientists from Goldsmiths University in London, Gold says the system, called Bronze, “makes the music more engaging, similar to a live performance. Every time it’s played, it’s renewing itself.” Mark Savage, “Gwilym Gold releases ‘constantly evolving […]
Music of the people“True music … must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today.” — George Gerswhin Edward Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart (1926) The Gershwin Years. Garden City: Double Day.
Hope“Hope is the dream of a soul awake.”— French proverb. R. A. Krieger, Civilization’s Quotations: Life’s Ideal, New York, Algora Publishing, 2002, p.151.
The fire of knowledge“When teaching, light a fire, don’t fill a bucket.” – Dan Snow, television presenter. Cited at QuotationsBook
Chopin’s pianistic styleWhile in London, Chopin frequently gave performances at soirées and matinées where he performed Nocturnes, Waltzes, Mazurkas and the Berceuse George Hogarth reported in the Daily News (10 July 1848): He accomplishes enormous difficulties, but so quietly, so smoothly and with such constant delicacy and refinement that the listener is not sensible of their real […]
