My mind and fingers have worked like the damned. Homer, the Bible, Plato, Locke, Lamartine, Chateaubriand, Beethoven, Bach, Hummel, Mozart, Weber are all around me. I study them. I devour them with fury.
Franz LisztRead
Music is never stationary; successive forms and styles are only like so many resting-places - like tents pitched and taken down again on the road to the Ideal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Music is a constantly evolving art form, with different styles serving as temporary stops on the journey toward perfection.
Franz Liszt's quote highlights the dynamic nature of music, suggesting that while various forms and styles may seem like distinct entities, they are merely temporary stages on a continuous path towards an ideal state of musical expression. Just as travelers set up tents along their journey, musicians explore different genres and techniques, contributing to the ever-changing landscape of music, which ultimately strives for a form of perfection that can never be fully attained.
Themes
MusicEvolutionArtIdealStyles
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of creativity, one might quote Liszt to emphasize how art evolves.
More from Franz Liszt
All quotes βIt is my fervent wish and my greatest ambition to leave a work with a few useful instructions for the pianists after me.
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Music is the heart of life." She speaks love; "without it, there is no possible good and with it everything is beautiful.
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For the virtuoso, musical works are in fact nothing but tragic and moving materializations of his emotions; he is called upon to make them speak, weep, sing and sigh, to recreate them in accordance with his own consciousness. In this way he, like the composer, is a creator, for he must have within himself those passions that he wishes to bring so intensely to life.
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I conclude that the Wagnerian operas which are already in the repertoire, and other masterworks as well, stand in no further need of my services.
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A good Cuban cigar closes the doors to the vulgarities of the world.
Franz LisztRead
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