1432 quotes by composers for you to enjoy

On my mental iPod, I always have Stravinsky and Ravel. Steven Stucky

Mental Ravel Always iPod Stravinsky

If you haven't heard my music before, 'Spirit Voices' is a great place to start. Steven Stucky

Music Great You Before Spirit Great Place Voices Heard Place Start

Americans' distrust of the conspicuously intellectual - a habit we learned, I suppose, on the frontier, but which remains a feature of the national character - has the virtue of puncturing the pretentious and exposing the fake, but it may also have impaired American listeners' patience for music that is especially complex or austere. Steven Stucky

Music Character Patience Pretentious National Virtue Complex Conspicuously Distrust Impaired Feature Habit Remains Suppose Also Learned Fake National Character Intellectual Austere American May Listeners Frontier Which Exposing

Essentially my contribution was to introduce repetition into Western music as the main ingredient without any melody over it, without anything just repeated patterns, musical patterns. Terry Riley

Music Musical Melody Introduce Main Over Over It Without Repeated Western Repetition Contribution Any Essentially Just Anything Patterns Ingredient

I really didn't have a plan, I just went in and started playing. one of my specialties was to be able to play for a really long time without stopping and I would play these repeated patterns for hours and hours and I wouldn't seem to get tired. Terry Riley

Out of doing all that experimentation with sound I decided I wanted to do it with live musicians. To take repetition, take music fragments and make it live. Musicians would be able to play it and create this kind of abstract fabric of sound. Terry Riley

A musicologist is a man who can read music but can't hear it. Thomas Beecham

Music Man Read Hear Who

I have just been all round the world and have formed a very poor opinion of it. Thomas Beecham

World Opinion Been Very Just Formed Poor Round

Movie music is noise... even more painful than my sciatica. Thomas Beecham

Music Noise More Than Movie Painful Even

There's nothing like desperation to sharpen your sense of focus. Thomas Newman

Desperation Focus Sense Nothing Sharpen Like Your

With film music, endings are often more difficult than beginnings, because a beginning is an underline, a way of exciting a moment, and then you have to find a way to dissipate that. Thomas Newman

Music You Beginning Difficult Dissipate Way Find More Exciting Because Than Beginnings Endings Often Then Moment Film Film Music

The experience of a film is immersive, and music is supposed to underline and help that experience. Thomas Newman

Music Experience Supposed Help Film

When you see an early edited version, you're not sure what it is. The movie is getting on its wobbly legs. Thomas Newman

You See Sure Edited Wobbly Version Getting Movie Legs Early

Music is such an odd thing when you think about it - behind an image until you take it away, and then you realize a movie sounds blank without it. Thomas Newman

Music You Think About Blank Take Until Without Sounds Odd Odd Thing Behind Movie Realize Then Away Thing Image

The rare opportunity of writing music for a movie about the making of 'Mary Poppins' was impossible to ignore. The fact that it could provide emotional content in relief of the struggles that the Sherman brothers and Walt Disney endured was reason enough to take on the challenge. Thomas Newman

Music Writing Opportunity Impossible Challenge Rare Enough Relief Brothers About Struggles Fact Could Emotional Mary Take Mary Poppins Content Making Provide Walt Walt Disney Movie Endured Disney Ignore Reason

It's a practical matter. If you're useful to others, you'll be hired. Thomas Newman

You Matter Others Practical Hired Useful

You want to say as little as you can and get the most punch out of it, always with the knowledge that people are not in the theater to listen to your music so much as to respond to the movie. You're a part of that experience. Thomas Newman

I didn't listen to any of my dad's scores. Thomas Newman

Scores Any Listen Dad

I just want my music to involve an audience in what's taking place onscreen. Thomas Newman

Music Onscreen Taking Involve Audience Just Want Place

The golden age of Hollywood was the conceit of the movie and the style of the movie. Thomas Newman

Age Style Conceit Golden Golden Age Movie Hollywood

Quotes by Composers