Gershwin and RavelRavel, touring America in 1928, was approached by George Gershwin for composition lessons. Ravel refused, stating “you would only lose your own spontaneity and end up by writing bad Ravel!” Cited in: James, Burnett (1983) Ravel: His Life and Times. New York: Midas Books, p.120
It is cruel that music should be so beautiful“It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature, and everlasting beauty of monotony.” Benjamin Britten
Rustic DanceTitle: Rustic Dance Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score SAMPLE:
An artist’s personal growthFunnily, my deep conviction is that no idea or concept of true artistic importance can be imparted or transferred. The real things are those that you grow yourself in your own garden, without anyone overseeing. In that sense art is the land of absolute sole responsibility. There is nothing that cannot be challenged, but in […]
Perahia on BeethovenMurray Perahia initially found Beethoven hard to understand: “I was always working on Beethoven, but I couldn’t feel close to him. For nearly ten years I didn’t altogether like his music because I felt it showed an aggressive, up-front personality.” But after studying, performing, and recording Beethoven (Appasionata,op. 2, op. 101 and the Piano Concertos), […]
Mozart’s magic ringWhen Mozart was in Naples, he so impressed his audience that they suspected “musical sorcery”. They ordered him to play without wearing his ring, the apparent source of his “magic”. Source: Marek, George (1969) Beethoven: Biography of a Genius. London: William Kimber, p.20.
Creativity“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” — Mary Lou Cook, American community activist and author Reagan, M., Phillips, B. (1995) The All-American Quote Book. United States: Harvest House, p. 68.
Capturing the pulse of the time"I try to put the pulse of my times into my music and do it in a lasting way." – George Gerswhin Cited in: Greenberg, Rodney (2008) George Gerswhin. New York: Phaidon Press, p.216. '
‘Real’ instruments in popular music“We’re seeing a big evolution of production, of recording techniques, and of the actual sounds. Everything’s getting sampled and synthesized…. When we do have an acoustic instrument like a saxophone, it tends to get processed to where [it’s] almost unrecognizable.” Jeff Harrington, saxophonist. Cited in, Kelsey McKinney, “Where Did All the Saxophones Go?”, https://getpocket.com/explore/item/where-did-all-the-saxophones-go?utm_source=pocket-app&utm_medium=share, accessed 29 […]
The limits of imaginationYou’re travelling to another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound… but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land, whose boundaries are only that of the imagination… you’re entering… the Twilight Zone… – Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone