So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.
Aaron CoplandRead
The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking "Is there a meaning to music?" My answer would be, "Yes", And "Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?" My answer to that would be "No."
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the complexity of understanding the meaning of music, affirming its existence while acknowledging the difficulty of articulating it.
Aaron Copland emphasizes that while music undoubtedly holds meaning, it eludes simplistic verbal description. Music resonates deeply and can convey emotions and messages that are often beyond the reach of words, highlighting the intrinsic value and subjective experience of art.
Themes
MusicMeaningArtExpressionEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the significance of art in human culture.
More from Aaron Copland
All quotes →I hope my recordings of my own works won't inhibit other people's performances. The brutal fact is that one doesn't always get the exact tempo one wants, although one improves with experience.
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Someone once asked me... whether I waited for inspiration. My answer was: "Every day!"
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To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.
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Music that is born complex is not inherently better or worse than music that is born simple.
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You compose because you want to somehow summarize in some permanent form your most basic feelings about being alive, to set down some sort of permanent statement about the way it feels to live now, today.
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