My music is best understood by children and animals.
Igor StravinskyRead
Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end.
Interpretation
Music should have a clear conclusion without unnecessary prolongation.
Igor Stravinsky's quote highlights the importance of brevity and clarity in musical composition. He suggests that, like any art form, music should effectively communicate its message and not overstay its welcome, as lingering too long can detract from its impact and meaning.
In practice
In a music class discussing the structure of a piece, this quote can emphasize the need for concise endings.
My music is best understood by children and animals.
Conductors' careers are made for the most part with 'Romantic' music. 'Classic' music eliminates the conductor; we do not remember him in it.
The trouble with music appreciation in general is that people are taught to have too much respect for music they should be taught to love it instead.
Invention presupposes imagination but should not be confused with it.
I was born out of due time in the sense that by temperament and talent I should have been more suited for the life of a small Bach, living in anonymity and composing regularly for an established service and for God.
A composer is not only an architect but also an inventor, and he should not build houses in which he cannot live.
I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems.
If there is some good in me, it is because I was born in the subtle atmosphere of your country of Arezzo. Along with the milk of my nurse I received the knack of handling chisel and hammer, with which I make my figures.
There's obviously nothing wrong with selling your art - only an idiot with a trust fund would tell you otherwise. But it's confusing to know how far you should take it.
I think an artist, in my definition of that word, would not be someone who takes sides with the emperor against his powerless subjects. That's different from prescribing a way in which a writer should write.
Beauty, midnight, vision dies: Let the winds of dawn that blow Softly round your dreaming head Such a day of welcome show Eye and knocking heart may bless, Find our mortal world enough; Noons of dryness find you fed By the involuntary powers, Nights of insult let you pass Watched by every human love.
If only life could be a little more tender and art a little more robust.
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