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 Copland

Categorized in : Thinking Listening Music

To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itse... by Aaron Copland

To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.

music would-be time

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."

music would-be art

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.

stress music wisdom

The greatest moments of the human spirit may be deduced from the... by Aaron Copland

The greatest moments of the human spirit may be deduced from the greatest moments in music.

moments spirit may

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.

music giving long

This whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, “Is there a meaning to music?” My answer to that would be, “Yes.” And “Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?” My answer to that would be, “No.”

jazz music states

You compose because you want to somehow summarize in some permanent form your most basic feelings about being alive, to set down some sort of permanent statement about the way it feels to live now, today.

live-for-today alive feelings

Listening to the Fifth Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams is like... by Aaron Copland

Listening to the Fifth Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams is like staring at a cow for 45 minutes.

cows symphony listening

There is something about music that keeps its distance even at the moment that it engulfs us. It is at the same time outside and away from us and inside and part of us. In one sense it dwarfs us, and in another we master it. We are led on and on, and yet in some strange way we never lose control.

distance music way

If you want to know about the Sixties, play the music of The Beat... by Aaron Copland

If you want to know about the Sixties, play the music of The Beatles.

knows want play

The main thing is to be satisfied with your work yourself. It's useless to have an audience happy if you are not happy.

satisfied not-happy useless

Music that is born complex is not inherently better or worse than... by Aaron Copland

Music that is born complex is not inherently better or worse than music that is born simple.

born musical simple

For me, the most important thing is the element of chance that is built into a live performance. The very great drawback of recorded sound is the fact that it is always the same. No matter how wonderful a recording is, I know that I couldn't live with it--even of my own music--with the same nuances forever.

important sound forever

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.

symphony men long

Composers tend to assume that everyone loves music. Surprisingly... by Aaron Copland

Composers tend to assume that everyone loves music. Surprisingly enough, everyone doesn’t.

one-love assuming music-love

You may be sitting in a room reading this book. Imagine one note struck upon the piano. Immediately that one note is enough to change the atmosphere of the room - proving that the sound element in music is a powerful and mysterious agent, which it would be foolish to deride or belittle.

powerful reading book

The inspired moment may sometimes be described as a kind of hallucinatory state of mind: one half of the personality emotes and dictates while the other half listens and notates. The half that listens has better look the other way, had better simulate a half attention only, for the half that dictates is easily disgruntled and avenges itself for too close inspection by fading entirely away.

personality listening mind

Someone once asked me... whether I waited for inspiration. My ans... by Aaron Copland

Someone once asked me... whether I waited for inspiration. My answer was: "Every day!"

inspiration answers

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.

self inspirational art

I don't compose. I assemble materials. by Aaron Copland

I don't compose. I assemble materials.

materials