I confess that I live only in my surroundings and in myself. I can conceive of no greater pleasure than sitting in my chair at this desk and looking at the walls around me day by day and night after night. In these pictures I do not see what you see; in the trees outside of my window I neither see nor hear what you do. I live in a world of my imagination, which is set in motion by something suggested by my intimate surroundings rather than by outside influences which distract me and give me nothing. I find an exquisite joy when i search deeply in the recesses of myself and if anything original is to come from me, it can only come that way.
Claude Debussy, in an interview with Harper Weekly, 1908
Richard Langham Smith, ed., (1977) Debussy on Music. New York: Knopf, p.232.
I live in a world of my imagination
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The construction of music
It appears to me that the subject of music, from Machaut to Boulez, has always been its construction. Melodies of 12-tone rows just don’t happen. They must be constructed…. To demonstrate any formal idea in music, whether structure or stricture, is a matter of construction, in which the methodology is the controlling metaphor of the […]
Hans Zimmer on the musical experienceEverybody tells you that the youth of today, whoever they are, have a short attention span, and you can’t give them anything decent. That’s complete crap. The youth of today, just like anyone else, like a good story and want to be transported, and to have an experience. They don’t want to be bored, so […]
Lord, Send Our Your Spirit – Psalm 103 (104)Title: Lord, send out your spirit Text: Psalm 103 (104):1. 24. 29-31. 34. R.v.30 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SA and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
The creative processMozart on melody“Melody is the essence of music”, continued he; “I compare a good melodist to a fine racer, and counterpointists to hack post-horses; therefore be advised, let well alone, and remember the old Italian proverb – ‘Chi sa piu, meno sa – Who knows most, knows least’.” The Reminiscences of Michael Kelly, 1826. Cited in: Marshal, […]
Hoyt Curtain’s compositional processHoyt Curtin (1922-2000) was the primary composer for the Hanna Barbara studios. Popular theme songs he composed include The Flintstones, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Johnny Quest, Superfriends, Josie and the Pussycats, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, and The Smurfs. Of these, his favourite was The Flintsones, “I guess because it is a kick to hear musicians […]
Ringo StarrIs Ringo Starr the best drummer in the world? He’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles. Reporter and John Lennon. Source: Jarski, Rosemarie (2005) Great British Witt. London: Ebury Press, p.257.
Two paths for the future of classical musicGreg Sanders ponders the position of classical music and describes the need for it to catch up with culture, without simply “dumbing it down”: “Of course, I think that if we really understand current culture, we’ll want to go the other way, and make classical music smarter.” Greg Sanders, Arts Journal Blog, February 2, 2009. […]
Empty pockets“Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.” – Norman Vincent Peale, American author and preacher Cited at QuotationsBook
Music and time“There is also in this [nineteenth-century romantic] music an extraordinary sense of control over the passage of time; a moment will be held still as if suspended, and then released with a rush. Einstein has told us that time is relative, flexible and elastic; I have noticed these qualities whenever I have tried to play […]