Aaron Copland
11 quotes
Biography
Aaron Copland was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Music".
"Inspiration may be a form of super-consciousness, orperhaps of subconsciousness—I wouldn't know. But I amsure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness."
"I adore extravagance but I abhor waste."
"I don't compose. I assemble materials."
"If you want to know about the Sixties, play the music of The Beatles."
"Nadia Boulanger was quite aware that as a composition teacher she labored under two further disadvantages: she was not herself a regularly practicing composer and in so far as she composed at all she must of necessity be listed in that unenviable category of the woman composer. Everyone knows that the high achievement of women musicians as vocalists and instrumentalists has no counterpart in the field of musical composition. This historically poor showing has puzzled more than one observer. ... Is it possible that there is a mysterious element in the nature of musical creativity that runs counter to the nature of the feminine mind? ... The future may very well have a different tale to tell; for the present, however, no woman's name will be found on the list of world-famous composers."
"To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable."
"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."
"Listening to the Fifth Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams is like staring at a cow for 45 minutes."
"If a literary man puts together two words about music one of them will be wrong."
"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.'"
"If a literary man puts together two words about music, one of them will be wrong."