Starting in the middle of a musical sentence and moving in both directions at once.
John ColtraneRead
I never even thought about whether or not they understand what I'm doing . . . the emotional reaction is all that matters as long as there's some feeling of communication, it isn't necessary that it be understood.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The essence of expression lies in evoking emotions rather than achieving understanding.
John Coltrane's quote highlights the importance of emotional connection in artistic communication. It suggests that the impact of art is measured by the feelings it elicits in the audience rather than the precise understanding of its content, emphasizing that art's primary role is to communicate deep emotions and experiences.
Themes
EmotionCommunicationArtFeelingExpression
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote to inspire artists at a workshop about emotional expression in music.
More from John Coltrane
All quotes →When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people.
John ColtraneRead
I'd like to point out to people the divine in a musical language that transcends words. I want to speak to their souls.
John ColtraneRead
I start from one point and go as far as possible. But, unfortunately, I never lose my way. I 'localize,' which is to say that I think always in a given space. I rarely think of the whole of a solo, and only very briefly. I always return to the small part of the solo that I was in the process of playing.
John ColtraneRead
In the year of 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening, which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life.
John ColtraneRead
Sometimes I wish I could walk up to my music for the first time, as if I had never heard it before.
John ColtraneRead
Similar quotes
Strength may wield the ponderous spade, May turn the clod, and wheel the compost home; But elegance, chief grace the garden shows, And most attractive, is the fair result Of thought, the creature of a polished mind.
William CowperRead
It was an unwritten law that black comics were not permitted to work white nightclubs. You could sing and you could dance, but you couldn't stand flat-footed and talk; that was a no-no.
Dick GregoryRead
Abstract painting seeks to be a pure pictorial language, and thus attempts to escape the essential impurity of all languages: the recourse to signs or forms that have meanings shared by everyone.
Octavio PazRead
When I first began choreographing, I never thought of it as choreography but as expressing feelings. Though every piece is different, they are all trying to get at certain things that are difficult to put into words. In the work, everything belongs to everything else - the music, the set, the movement and whatever is said.
Pina BauschRead
The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so many bad artists are unable to give it up.
Jean CocteauRead
I can't help other people's frustrations. I don't owe people anything. If people would like to come to my concerts, I'd love them to come. And if they like the music that I make, I love that, too. But I do not make music for other people. I make it to please myself.
David GilmourRead