When I speak of the gifted listener, I am thinking of the nonmusician primarily, of the listener who intends to retain his amateur status. It is the thought of just such a listener that excites the composer in me.
AARON COPLANDYou may feel depressed, but it can’t be so depressing that you can’t move. No, I would say that people create in moments when they are elated about expressing their depression!
More Aaron Copland Quotes
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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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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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A melody is not merely something you can hum.
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If you want to know about the Sixties, play the music of The Beatles.
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Music that is born complex is not inherently better or worse than music that is born simple.
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If a literary man puts together two words about music, one of them will be wrong.
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Arthur V. Berger commenting on the music of Aaron Copland: Here is at last an American that we may place unapologetically beside the great recognized creative figures of any other country.
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I don’t compose. I assemble materials.
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Someone once asked me… whether I waited for inspiration. My answer was: “Every day!”
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The melody is generally what the piece is all about.
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Composers tend to assume that everyone loves music. Surprisingly enough, everyone doesn’t.
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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 great symphony is a man-made Mississippi down which we irresistibly flow from the instant of our leave-taking to a long forseen destination.
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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.
AARON COPLAND