The greatest moments of the human spirit may be deduced from the greatest moments in music.
AARON COPLANDMost people use music as a couch; they want to be pillowed on it, relaxed and consoled for the stress of daily living. But serious music was never meant to be soporific.
More Aaron Copland Quotes
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If a literary man puts together two words about music, one of them will be wrong.
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To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.
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If one were asked to name one musician who came closest to composing without human flaw, I suppose general consensus would choose Johann Sebastian Bach.
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The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking “Is there a meaning to music?” My answer would be, “Yes”, And “Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?” My answer to that would be “No.”
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Mozart tapped the source from which all music flows, expressing himself with a spontaneity and refinement and breathtaking rightness.
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A melody is not merely something you can hum.
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I hope my recordings of my own works won’t inhibit other people’s performances. The brutal fact is that one doesn’t always get the exact tempo one wants, although one improves with experience.
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So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.
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Most people use music as a couch; they want to be pillowed on it, relaxed and consoled for the stress of daily living. But serious music was never meant to be soporific.
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I don’t compose. I assemble materials.
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The main thing is to be satisfied with your work yourself. It’s useless to have an audience happy if you are not happy.
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Composers tend to assume that everyone loves music. Surprisingly enough, everyone doesn’t.
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If you want to know about the Sixties, play the music of The Beatles.
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I adore extravagance but I abhor waste.
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Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness – I wouldn’t know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.
AARON COPLAND