I’ve been browsing this site - a very interesting resource for bite-size quotes from pianists and composers.
I thought I’d make this thread for anyone to post interesting quotes they’ve discovered!
‘The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent’ - Brendel
Better quote than most of his playing!
‘Infant prodigies do not necessarily become great musicians. I have had over three thousand pupils, and I am convinced that the proficiency which some display is no more than a manifestation of dexterity and an extraordinary natural imitative faculty of children.’ - Cortot
‘Ignaz Friedman, who I admired, was a great artist. He had wonderful fingers and a very personal, individual way of playing, even if some of his ideas were very strange to me. He had no hesitation touching up the music. I got annoyed with him at one concert when he changed the basses in Chopin’s F minor Ballade. I didn’t like that. For some reason he was happier making records than he was on the stage.’ - Vladimir Horowitz
The Cortot is a great one. Though I can’t help wondering about his definition of a pupil - 3000, that’s essentially a new pupil every week throughout his life.
‘I am startled, occasionally, to find “intelligence” used as the antithesis of “feeling”, as though the two played against each other. Nothing could be further from the truth. No intelligent interpretation is lacking in emotional values. What this probably means is that, depending on gifts and degree of maturity, some natures emphasize brain over heart. Where such an imbalance occurs, it must be corrected by conscious and concentrated application to emotional content. If an interpretation is unduly cerebral, liveness and color can be infused into it by attention to whether the theme is now in the right hand, now in the left; whether it is supported by an accompaniment which has significance of its own, or merely hums along.’
Moiseiwitsch
I like his take on this, he’s one of my all time favourites.
'‘I liked him [Arthur Rubinstein] as a pianist. He was a good musician and had a fantastic repertoire. He never had a great technique, but certain things he played well. I heard him play some of the Chopin etudes, the easier ones with great panache and I told him I had never heard them played better. He said, “Do you mean it?” and I said, “Yes, I do mean it.”’ - Horowitz
hahaha da zlit… I see, so u end up with a poorer copy of yo fave rec and a superficial understanding of the music. You know, dis explains da slit playing playing a in an nutshell. BAM
Memorising notes as one memorises a speech in foreign language is bound to lead to memory lapses. YouTube is an invaluable tool; you can get to study your repertory with the best pianists of all times. Use it. If you are learning a piece, don’t hesitate to put your headphones on and just play along with your favourite recording. No matter how many times you hear the playing you will not grasp all the finer points if not directly measuring your inner hearing of music with the an interpretation you like.
HAHAHA da yeah yeah yeah, ok, so I won’t learn da Rach 4
The virtuosos look to the students of the world to do their share in the education of the great musical public. Do not waste your time with music that is trite or ignoble. Life is too short to spend it wandering in the barren Saharas of musical trash.
yeah yeah yeah, ok, so I won’t learn da Rach 4 
