To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist.
Interpretation
Artists have a responsibility to illuminate and inspire others through their work.
This quote emphasizes the profound role of artists in society, suggesting that their primary duty is to bring understanding, hope, and enlightenment to those who may be lost or struggling. By creating art, which serves as a form of light, they help to illuminate the deeper emotions and truths within the human experience, transforming darkness into a space of possibility and connection.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of creativity, one might say, 'As Robert Schumann said, to send light into the darkness of men's hearts is the duty of the artist.'
It was an unforgettable picture to see Chopin sitting at the piano like a clairvoyant, lost in his dreams; to see how his vision communicated itself through his playing, and how, at the end of each piece, he had the sad habit of running one finger over the length of the plaintive keyboard, as though to tear himself forcibly away from his dream.
I am so fresh in soul and spirit that life gushes and bubbles around me in a thousand springs.
Think it a vile habit to alter works of good composers, to omit parts of them, or to insert new-fashioned ornaments. This is the greatest insult you can offer to Art.
You write to become immortal, or because the piano happens to be open, or you've looked into a pair of beautiful eyes.
Endeavour to play easy pieces well and with elegance; that is better than to play difficult pieces badly.
For me, music is always the language which permits one to converse with the Beyond.
I have unbounded admiration for the nude. I worship it like a god.
A playwright must be his own audience. A novelist may lose his readers for a few pages; a playwright never dares lose his audience for a minute.
The way someone who's being photographed presents himself to the camera, and the effect of the photographer's response on that presence, is what the making of a portrait is all about.
To me, art is the capacity to experience one's innocence: craft is how you get to that point. Maturity in a musician would be the point at which one is innocent at will. At that point the relationship between music and the musician is direct and reliable._x000D_ The relationship with music is always mysterious: when it works, you can never tell. You can never guarantee when it's going to work. You can only to put yourself in a place where it's more likely to happen.
Remember always that the composer's pen is still mightier than the bow of the violinist; in you lie all the possibilities of the creation of beauty.
I'm enamored with the art world. Anytime you look at anything that's considered artistic, there's a commercial world around it: the ballet, opera, any kind of music. It can't exist without it.
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