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In the long run, any words about music are less important than the music.

Dmitri Shostakovich

I don’t know what will become of this piece. Our brave critics will no doubt charge me with imitating Ravel’s Bolero. Too bad – this is how I hear war.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Brave Doubt Imitation Pieces War
The majority of my symphonies are tombstones.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Majority Music Symphony
What can be considered human emotions? Surely not only lyricism, sadness, tragedy? Doesn’t laughter also have a claim to that lofty title? I want to fight for the legitimate right of laughter in “serious” music.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Emotion Fight Human Laughter Lyric Music Sadness Tragedy
I feel eternal pain for those who were killed by Hitler, but I feel no less pain for those killed on Stalin’s orders. I suffer for everyone who was tortured, shot, or starved to death.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Death Forever Kill Myself Order Starve Suffering
Every piece of music is a form of personal expression for its creator. If a work doesn’t express the composers own personal point of view, his own ideas, then it doesn’t, in my opinion, even deserve to be born.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Born Creator Deserve Expression Form Music Personal Pieces Point
I always try to make myself as widely understood as possible; and if I don’t succeed, I consider it my own fault.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Mistake Myself Possible Success Try Understand Wide
Real music is always revolutionary, for it cements the ranks of the people; it arouses them and leads them onward.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Leadership Music People Reality Revolution
The best way to hold on to something is to pay no attention to it. The things you love too much perish. You have to treat everything with irony, especially the things you hold dear. There’s more of a chance then that they’ll survive.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Attention Best Chance Hold Pay Survive Treat Yourself
The most uninteresting part of the biography of a composer is his childhood. All those preludes are the same and the reader hurries on to the fugue.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Childhood Compose Interest Reading
A great piece of music is beautiful regardless of how it is performed.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Beautiful Greatness Music Performance
He fell like a chicken into the soup.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Chicken Fall Soup
When a man is in despair, it means that he still believes in something.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Believe Despair Himself Man
Stravinsky the composer I worship. Stravinsky the thinker I despise.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Compose Hate Myself Thinking Worship
A creative artist works on his next composition because he was not satisfied with his previous one.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Artist Creativity Previous Satisfaction Work
In the long run, any words about music are less important than the music.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Important Music Myself Run Word
Music is good, not evil. Poetry is good, not evil. Primitive, but oh, so true!
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Evil Goodness Music True

In the long run, any words about music are less important than the music.

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In the long run, any words about music are less important than the music.

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