Famous quotes by Composers

Explore reflections from composers whose craft shapes the soundtrack of our lives. These voices span eras, styles, and cultures, illuminating the discipline, curiosity, and courage behind creating music. Whether they speak about inspiration, structure, collaboration, or silence, their words resonate with anyone seeking creativity and meaning. Dip into insights that reveal how themes are forged, risks embraced, and audiences moved. Let these perspectives accompany your listening, your work, and your moments of stillness, offering perspective from minds tuned to the art of composition.

"Music is the silence between the notes"

Claude Debussy, Composer

"Never look at the trombones. You'll only encourage them"

Richard Strauss, Composer

"When everyone is somebody, then no one's anybody"

William Gilbert, Composer

Small: William Gilbert

"For myself, I can only say that I am astonished and somewhat terrified at the results of this evening's experiments. Astonished at the wonderful power you have developed, and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music may be put on record forever"

Arthur Sullivan, Composer

"I have nothing to say, I am saying it, and that is poetry"

John Cage, Composer

Small: John Cage

"Nice is different than good"

Stephen Sondheim, Composer

Small: Stephen Sondheim

"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing"

John Powell, Composer

"Music is organized sound"

Edgard Varese, Composer

Small: Edgard Varese

"People in very high places suddenly fall, and we are always surprised because we don't factor in the basic element that they're humans and, therefore, they are flawed and have weaknesses"

Carlisle Floyd, Composer

"Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art"

Claude Debussy, Composer

"Behind the phony tinsel of Hollywood lies the real tinsel"

Oscar Levant, Composer

"If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all"

John Cage, Composer

Small: John Cage

"Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do"

Gian Carlo Menotti, Composer

"There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line"

Oscar Levant, Composer

"It's a blast to watch. It's a lot more interesting live than it is on record. I mean, it really is a theatrical event. It's a sporting event! Cause you never know what's gonna happen"

John Zorn, Composer

Small: John Zorn

"There was no one near to confuse me, so I was forced to become original"

Joseph Haydn, Composer

Small: Joseph Haydn

"Communication works for those who work at it"

John Powell, Composer

"There is a world of difference between a Mahler eighth note and a normal eighth note"

Gustav Mahler, Composer

"The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution"

Igor Stravinsky, Composer

Small: Igor Stravinsky

"The real composer thinks about his work the whole time; he is not always conscious of this, but he is aware of it later when he suddenly knows what he will do"

Igor Stravinsky, Composer

Small: Igor Stravinsky

"The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play"

Richard Strauss, Composer

"Friends applaud, the comedy is over"

Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer

Small: Ludwig van Beethoven

"Imagination creates reality"

Richard Wagner, Composer

Small: Richard Wagner

"Wagner is a composer who has beautiful moments but awful quarter hours"

Gioachino Rossini, Composer

"I worked hard. Anyone who works as hard as I did can achieve the same results"

Johannes Sebastian Bach, Composer

"Just as appetite comes by eating, so work brings inspiration, if inspiration is not discernible at the beginning"

Igor Stravinsky, Composer

Small: Igor Stravinsky

"Harpists spend 90 percent of their lives tuning their harps and 10 percent playing out of tune"

Igor Stravinsky, Composer

Small: Igor Stravinsky

"A good composer does not imitate; he steals"

Igor Stravinsky, Composer

Small: Igor Stravinsky

"I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin"

Oscar Levant, Composer

"One can't judge Wagner's opera Lohengrin after a first hearing, and I certainly don't intend to hear it a second time"

Gioachino Rossini, Composer

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