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Classical Music Quotes

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Classical Music Quotes

“Because even if you spend your life chasing the immaterial, listening to the most exquisite classical music and getting drunk off of stunning vistas of mountains and waterfalls, all of it isn't worth a dime if you aren’t sharing it with someone. Everything amounts to that. True, we must experience most things in solitude to grow, create, destroy and grow again, but our pleasure and joy reaches a threshold in isolation. It is the worst thing to become an island. One must become the whole world.”

“Modern man is full of platitudes about living life to its fullest, with catchy keychain phrases and little plaques for kitchen walls. But if you've never retreated to the solitude of a dark room and listened to Beethoven's Ninth from start to finish, you know nothing. For music is a transcendental exploration of human emotion and experience, the very fabric of life in its purest form. And the Ninth our greatest musical achievement.”

“When natural music is heightened and polished by art”, he said once, “there man first beholds and can with great wonder examine to a certain extent, (for it cannot be wholly seized or understood) the great and perfect wisdom of God in His marvellous work of music, in which this is most singular and indeed astonishing, that one man sings a simple tune or tenor (as musicians call it), together with which three, four or five voices also sing, which as it were play and skip delightedly round this simple tune or tenor, and wonderfully grace and adorn the said tune with manifold devices and sounds, performing as it were a heavenly dance, so that those who at all understand it and are moved by it must be greatly amazed, and believe that there is nothing more extraordinary in the world than such a song adorned with many voices.”

“When natural music is heightened and polished by art, there man first beholds and can with great wonder examine to a certain extent (for it cannot be wholly seized or understood) the great and perfect wisdom of God in His marvellous work of music. In which this is most singular and indeed astonishing: that one man sings a simple tune or tenor (as musicians call it), together with which three, four, or five voices also sing, which, as it were, play and skip delightedly round this simple tune or tenor, and wonderfully grace and adorn the said tune with manifold devices and sounds, performing as it were a heavenly dance, so that those who at all understand it and are moved by it must be greatly amazed and believe that there is nothing more extraordinary in the world than such a song adorned with many voices.”

“Bring it. Just fucking bring it. Stand tall, Grandma Nora had told him: he would stand tall, with the spotlights shining on his face, and his music would pour into all their ears, and they would understand that no matter what anybody threw at him, he was not going away He was not stooping to their level. The air-conditioning could go off and he could melt. They could toss any piece of crappy music they wanted at him and he would play. He would not be ignored or denied or embarrassed ever again: he was a musician, and music had no color.”

“As any painter, writer, or composer knows, artworks arise from the tension between their physical materials and the thought or spirit that shapes them from within. Though they require some outward, physical element, they cease to function as art when they are reduced to their objectlike, artifactual element. This definitive tension underlies art’s varied social uses and explains how it came to be celebrated on the one hand as an expression of the highest spiritual achievements of humanity and, on the other, criticized as merely another precious object—a trapping of wealth, privilege, and social exclusion. Even in the heyday of classical music, there was always a gap between the philosophical claims for music and social practice”

“There is no inherent value in simply surrounding oneself with great music and art; what matters is the degree of exposure one is prepared to give, accompanied by the going out of the receptive mind, the active encounter with the object. The fetishism of art objects has not helped art’s cause at all. Attributing value to the object rather than the encounter underlies the arrogant dismissal of so many works. “If I don’t get it, it’s no good” is a mind-set that will never understand art because it fails to understand that art requires a humility and patience in the face of the object—and not mere passivity either, but an active opening of our responses.”

“Violinists wear the imprint on their necks with pride For they are the players of harmony. Pilgrims, too, wear the imprint on their foreheads with pride For they are the conductors of unity. And Lovers? Why, they are made humble by the imprint on their hearts For they are merely the instruments of rhapsody.”

“Champagne arrived in flûtes on trays, and we emptied them with gladness in our hearts... for when feasts are laid and classical music is played, where champagne is drunk once the sun has sunk and the season of summer is alive in spicy bloom, and beautiful women fill the room, and are generous with laughter and smiles... these things fill men's hearts with joy and remind one that life’s bounty is not always fleeting but can be captured, and enjoyed. It is in writing about this scene that I relive this night in my soul.”

“Regardless of the age of the people in the audience, they are clapping, screaming with joy and enjoying each and every note. I used to think classical music was boring. But that was because I never really gave it a chance. When I first saw 2CELLOS' cover of Smooth Criminal, I was mesmerized by their talent and instantly intrigued. With just two instruments, they created a sound so powerful and incredible, a sound I had never known could come from a cello.”

“Having considered Handel's tumultuous opera career and his first term at Covent Garden in the 1730s, perhaps we may dare to suggest he was one of the foremost pioneers in establishing autonomy within the traditional system of music patronage, notwithstanding his efforts to become an independent impressario often proved disappointing.”

“Handel's yearning for independence from the traditional chains of patronage and his persistence in monitoring his productions resulted with unique developments concerning Baroque 'opera seria'; however, paradoxically his personal obsession to obtain complete artistic freedom generated disastrous side-effects that eventually impeded the progress of opera in London.”

“Concert pianists get to be quite chummy with dead composers. They can't help it. Classical music isn't just music. It's a personal diary. An uncensored confession in the dead of night. A baring of the soul. Take a modern example. Florence and the Machine? In the song 'Cosmic Love,' she catalogs the way in which the world has gone dark, distorting her, when she, a rather intense young woman, was left bereft by a love affair. 'The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out.”

“The fact that the work today has become common property may console us for the other fact that an analysis of it is almost as impossible as it is to depict a wood by enumerating the trees and describing their appearance. We can only repeat again and again—take them and play them and penetrate into this world for yourself. Aesthetic elucidation of any kind must necessarily be superficial here, What so fascinates us in the work is not the form or the build of the piece, but the world-view that is mirrored in it. It is not so much that we enjoy the Well-tempered Clavichord as that we are edified by it. Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter—to all these it gives voice, but in such a way that we are transported from the world of unrest to a world of peace, and see reality in a new way, as if we were sitting by a mountain lake and contemplating hills and woods and clouds in the tranquil and fathomless water.”

“Doğu musikisi' adlı kavrama dâhil olmadan önce Türk musikisinin kendisine özgü bir nazariyesi var mıydı? Eğer bir nazariyesi varsa, nasıl bir şekildeydi? Bunu bilmiyoruz. Arap İslâm siyasetinin “himmeti” sayesinde yok edilmiş birçok millî eserlerimizle birlikte musikimiz de kaybolmaya yüz tutmuştur. Büyük bir yoldan geçen ulu kervanın izi kalmaz mı? İşte örnek olarak verdiğimiz bu söz gibi Arap istilasından önceki Türk musikimizin sadece izleri kalmıştır. Bu olanları görmezden gelmek elbette ki iyi bir sonuç getirmez.”

“Nevai, musikimize olan hizmetini yalnızca küyler bestelemekle sınırlandırmamıştır. En büyük musiki üstatlarına ve en yetenekli musiki öğrencilerine eğitim vermeye başlamıştır. Onları bilim yönünden zenginleştirmek için yeni musiki risaleleri yazdırmıştır. Bu doğrultuda Babür Mirza’nın Babürnâme eserinde Üstat Kulmuhammed-ü Şeyh-i Nâyi ve Udî Hüseyin çalgılarında çok iyilerdi. Nevai’nin eğitim ve desteğiyle yükselmiş, ünlenmişlerdir demiştir. Nevai, Hemsetü-l-Müteheyyirîn adlı kitabında Üstad Kulmuhammed’in öğrencilik dönemlerinde çok yetenekli olduğunu ve her şeyi yeniden öğrenerek iyi bir çalma yetisine ulaştığını söylemiştir. Nevai, Üstad Kulmuhammed ve Udî Hüseyin’in musiki hakkında daha fazla teorik bilgiye ulaşmalarını sağlamak için dört büyük üstada, dört tane musiki risalesi yazdırmıştır. Risaleler Fenn-i Ta’lim tarafından uygun görülmediği için son olarak Abdurrahman Cami’ye beşinci risaleyi yazdırdığını eserinde not etmiştir.”

“Temellerini Arap ve İran’dan alan musiki sanatı, Timur’dan önce de Orta Asya’da vardı. Timur’un buyruğu ile her taraftan getirilen uzman âlimlerin gayretleriyle bu sanat birdenbire canlandı ve ayağa kalktı. Doğudaki İslâm ülkelerinin her tarafından getirilen çalgılar ve çalgıcılar, bizim bugünkü klasik musikimizin yükselmesine ve yücelmesine hizmet vermişlerdir. Az zamanda yerli halktan büyük musikişinaslar yetişmişti. Hatta Tühfetü-s-sürür’un söylediğine göre; meşhur Mirza Uluğbek’in kendisi de musiki âlimlerinden sayılmıştır. Ülke yönetimi Emir Timur’un çocuklarındayken; kanuncu Derviş Ahmedî (Semerkantlı), neyci Sultan Ahmed (Semerkantlı), Türkçe ve Farsça iki divan ile musiki hakkında bir risalesi bulunan Karagöllü Hisamî, musiki hakkında bir kitap yazan Harezmli Abdulvefa, doktor ve musiki âlimi olan Belhli Mevlana Sahib ve ünlü bestekârlardan sayılan Şehrisebizli Abdulbereke gibi kişiler yetişmiş ve musikimiz için hizmet vermişlerdir. Nakkareci ve şair olan Kadimî, Nevai’nin musiki muallimi Hoca Yusuf Burhan ve Nevai’nin dayısı Muhammedelî Ğaribî de bu zamanın meşhur musikişinaslarındandılar.”

“Türk musikisinin bizde kalan en eski izleri bahşı, ozan ve kobuz sözleridir. Bahşı sözünün bugünkü manası halk şairi veya çalgıcısıdır. Halk arasında kobuz veya donbura çalıp destanlar okuyan özel kişiler, yani şair veya çalgıcılar vardır. Biz bunlara bahşı diyoruz. Hâlbuki hicrî IX. asırda Ali Şir Nevai zamanında bu söz, Uygurca yazan kitap anlamında kullanılmıştı.”

“Abdurrahman Cami’nin Risâle-yi Musikiy eserinde gösterilen esaslar incelediğinde anlaşılıyor ki çalgı üstatlarımızın perde belirlemeleri için en doğru yol buydu.”

“Doğu musikisi âlimleri nağmelerin birbirleriyle olan ilintilerini çıkış noktalarıyla olan ilişkilerine göre belirlerlerdi. Nağmelerin çıkış yerleri insanın gırtlağıdır; fakat musikişinaslar gırtlak nağmelerini notaya alamadıkları için nağme örneklerini olduğu gibi çalgı üzerine aktarmışlardır.”

“Doğu musikisi âlimleri nağmelerin birbirleriyle olan ilintilerini çıkış noktalarıyla olan ilişkilerine göre belirlerlerdi. Nağmelerin çıkış yerleri insanın gırtlağıdır; fakat musikişinaslar gırtlak nağmelerini notaya alamadıkları için nağme örneklerini olduğu gibi çalgı üzerine aktarmışlardır. Nağmelerin çıkış yerlerini çalgı üzerinde ince hesaplarla zor bir şekilde belirlemişler ve her birini bir harfle göstermişlerdir. Böylece belirlenen seslerin çıkış noktalarını musikinin perdeleri gibi adlandırmışlardır. Musikişinaslarımızın perdeleri belirlemek için sarf ettiği büyük emekleri gören bir kişi doğu musikisinin bilimsel temeli yoktur diyen “ukalalara” karşı kendini gülmekten alıkoyamaz.”

“Bizim edebiyatımızda olduğu gibi musikimizde de iki akım vardır. Edebiyatımızda aruz vezninde şiir yazma ve aruzsuz, yani parmak vezninde şiir yazma üslûbu vardır. Aruz vezni İran ve Arap etkisinde kalan medrese ve saray şairleri arasında, parmak vezni ise halk şairleri arasında yaygındı.”

“Musikimizde usul vezninde yazılmış küyler olduğu gibi usulsüz olan küyler de vardır. Usul veznindeki küyler musiki nazariyatını iyi bilen, medrese ve saray etrafında yetişen çalgıcılarımız tarafından kullanılmıştır. Usulsüz olan küylerimiz ise halk tarafından, halk çalgıcıları ve halk aşulecileri tarafından icra edilmiştir.”

“As a contrast to the Bach of pure music I present the Bach who is a poet and painter in sound. In his music and in his texts he expresses the emotional as well as the descriptive with great vitality and clarity. Before all else he aims at rendering the pictorial in lines of sound. He is even more tone painter than tone poet. His art is nearer to that of Berlioz than to that of Wagner. If the text speaks of drifting mists, of boisterous winds, of roaring rivers, of waves that ebb and flow, of leaves falling from the tree, of bells that toll for the dying, of the confident faith that walks with firm steps or the weak faith that falters, of the proud who will be debased and the humble who will be exalted, of Satan rising in rebellion, of angels on the clouds of heaven, then one sees and hears all this in his music. Bach has, in fact, his own language of sound. There are in his music constantly recurring rhythmical motives expressing peaceful bliss, lively joy, intense pain, or sorrow sublimely borne. The impulse to express poetic and pictorial concepts is the essence of music. It addresses itself to the listener's creative imagination and seeks to kindle in him the feelings and visions with which the music was composed. But this it can do only if the person who uses the language of sound possesses the mysterious faculty of rendering thoughts with a superior clarity and precision. In this respect Bach is the greatest of the great.”

“Ironically, for all that youth culture rejects classical music as old-fashioned and out-ofdate, it is the way it is because of an excess of rational thought; it is, literally, too modern. Instead, youth culture yearns for a prerational immediacy, that of the body, of libidinal energy, and for the luxury of blind, adolescent emotions without consequences or responsibilities. Ironic, too, is that popular culture presents a prerational consciousness as the absolutely modern.”

“谱曲者早已代代作古,一页页乐谱也不容辩驳——我所奏的不过是作为美的记忆,是美的消逝。在爵士乐中,乐手们总期待着下一个瞬间的奇迹。而在古典音乐的现场,视角颠倒了。正因它早已不是当下的事件,而是对某刻往昔的再现,使每个瞬间都变得珍贵、迫切起来。一个个音符在触及我们心灵的刹那,又一个接一个成为过去。过去接连着流向过去,直至聆听的尽头;我们就这样在时间的悬置中,完成了对回忆的致敬。所谓现场,不就是这样一种关乎“消逝”的艺术吗?”

“The distinction between "classical" and "folk" music only really emerged in the late eighteenth and into the nineteenth centuries. The words only make sense (to the extent they do) when they're set in opposition to each other. The musicologist Matthew Gelbart has written a terrific book on the subject called The Invention of Folk Music and Art Music, in which he details how it used to be that musicians just played music: what mattered was the place and purpose, not so much who wrote the tune or played it or how they spoke. The same musicians would cover courts, pop songs and worship. These musicians travelled and shape-shifted. If dancing was required, they would play dance standards. If the mood was contemplative, they would unravel something slow and soulful.”

“What kind of styles? There are circle dances inspired by Salsa, and others inspired by contemporary dance type moves, reggae, classical music and jazz. Everything can come under this umbrella, all with the idea that this is a social dance. We don't have to perform and we don't have to be perfect. We’re doing it for the way that we feel when dancing, the togetherness and connection.”

“Art doesn’t give rise to anything in us that isn’t already there. It simply stirs our curious consciousness and sparks a fire that illuminates who we have always wanted to be.”

“– Так ты нашел его? – Кого? – Равновесие, гармонию, хóжó… Как хочешь назови. За то время, что тебя не было, ты сумел его обрести? Сэмюэль на секунду задержал на мне взгляд, а потом снова перевел его на дорогу. – Это бесконечный процесс, Джози. Нельзя просто найти его, и все. Это как держать равновесие на велосипеде: любая мелочь может лишить тебя баланса. Но я понял, что для меня гармония во многом связана с наличием цели. И еще мне пришлось отпустить свои гнев и горечь. Когда мы познакомились много лет назад, меня переполняла злость. Но мое сердце смягчилось, и я начал меняться. – Что же смягчило твое сердце? – тихо спросила я. – Хорошая музыка и добрый друг. Глаза защипало, и я отвернулась, смаргивая подступившие слезы. – Музыка обладает невероятной силой. – Как и дружба, – искренне произнес Сэмюэль.”