My chief virtue (or if you like, defect) has been a tireless lifelong search for an original, individual musical idiom. I detest imitation, I detest hackneyed devices.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the value of originality and the rejection of imitation in artistic expression.
Sergei Prokofiev emphasizes the importance of striving for a unique and personal musical style throughout his life. He expresses a strong aversion to imitation and clichéd methods, highlighting that true artistic integrity comes from individual creativity and the continuous search for one's own voice in music.
In practice
In a speech about innovation at a music festival.
In my view, the composer,_x000D_ just as the poet, the sculptor or the painter,_x000D_ is in duty bound to serve Man, the people._x000D_ He must beautify life and defend it._x000D_ He must be a citizen first and foremost,_x000D_ so that his art might consciously extol human life_x000D_ and lead man to a radiant future.
Yes, I can play younger than my age. But I can play characters older than I am, too. I'm not an actor who can just play the kid.
I collected pictures and I drew pictures and I looked at the pictures by myself. And because no one else ever saw them, the pictures were perfect and true. They were alive.
I don’t believe in an art that is not born out of man’s need to open his heart.
Fashion is only the attempt to realize art in living forms and social intercourse.
We are the sons of Sorrow; we are the poets and the prophets and the musicians.
A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It's a theatrical event. I have fun with my clothes onstage; it's not a concert you're seeing, it's a fashion show.
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