“Composers in the old days used to keep strictly to the base of the theme, as their real subject. Beethoven varies the melody, harmony and rhythms so beautifully.”
Johannes Brahms
“A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way”
Caroline Gordon
“Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.”
Walt Whitman
“Half the world is composed of idiots, the other half of people clever enough to take indecent advantage of them”
Walter Kerr
“I occasionally play works by contemporary composers and for two reasons. First to discourage the composer from writing any more and secondly to remind myself how much I appreciate Beethoven.”
Jascha Heifetz
“Rossini would have been a great composer if his teacher had spanked him enough on the backside.”
Ludwig van Beethoven
“People compose for many reasons: to become immortal; because the pianoforte happens to be open; because they want to become a millionaire; because of the praise of friends; because they have looked into a pair of beautiful eyes; for no reason whatsoever.”
Robert A. Schumann
