Ludwig van Beethoven
38 quotes
Biography
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer, conductor, and pianist. Regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, he was mentored during the Classical period, and his musical style was a key driver of the transition to Romantic music, and the expansion of instrumental forms such as the symphony, the piano sonata and the string quartet.
"Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine."
"Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?"
"Music is ... A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy"
"Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine."
"I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet."
"I want to seize fate by the throat."
"There ought to be but one large art warehouse in the world, to which the artist could carry his art-works, and from which he could carry away whatever he needed. As it is, one must be half a tradesman."
"...thus do I take my farewell of thee — and indeed sadly — yes that beloved hope — which I brought with me when I came here to be cured at least in a degree — I must wholly abandon, as the leaves of autumn fall and are withered so hope has been blighted, almost as I came — I go away — even the high courage — which often inspired me in the beautiful days of summer — has disappeared — O Providence — grant me at least but one day of pure joy — it is so long since real joy echoed in my heart — O when — O when, O Divine One — shall I find it again in the temple of nature and of men — Never? no — O that would be too hard."
"Music is like a dream. One that I cannot hear."
"Nur das Reine im Herzen kann eine gute Suppe machen."
"Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend."
"Music is indeed the mediator between the spiritual and sensual life."
"Fahre fort, übe nicht allein die Kunst, sondern dringe auch in ihr Inneres; sie verdient es, denn nur die Kunst und die Wissenschaft erhöhen den Menschen bis zur Gottheit."
"I met [Meyerbeer] at the performance of my "Battle." Most of the composers then in Vienna were kind enough to undertake something or other in my orchestra, and the young man played the big drum. Ha! ha! ha! (a peal of laughter). I had reason not to be very well satisfied with him. He was always behindhand, and I had to give it him roundly. (New peal of laughter.) He must have felt mortified by my observations; but there is no reliance to be placed in him; he has not the courage to raise his arm at the proper moment."
"One clashes with stupidity of all kinds. And then how much money must be spent in advance! The way in which artists are treated is really scandalous. I am compelled to give a third of my receipts to the manager of the theatre and a fifth to the hospitals. Devil take them! As long as these abuses exist, I shall always ask whether music is or is not an art that may be freely exercised. Believe me, there is nothing to be done for artists in times like these."
"It is a recognised fact that the greatest composers were likewise the greatest virtuosos; but did they play like the pianists of the present day, who run up and down the keyboard with passages studied beforehand? Pooh! pooh! pooh! Don't tell me! A real virtuoso, when extemporising, plays pieces which hold together and possess a form. Were the ideas in them fixed instantly on paper, they would be taken for pieces written at leisure. That is what I call playing the piano; everything else is a bad joke."
"The world is a king, and like a king, desires flattery in return for favor; but true art is selfish and perverse — it will not submit to the mold of flattery."
"You will hear nothing of me here ... Fidelio? They cannot give it, nor do they want to listen to it. The symphonies? They have no time for them. My concertos? Everyone grinds out only the stuff he himself has made. The solo pieces? They went out of fashion long ago, and here fashion is everything. At the most, Schuppanzigh occasionally digs up a quartet."
"The day-to-day exhausted me!"
"Ach du erbärmlicher Schuft, was ich scheiße ist besser, als was du je gedacht."
"Muß es sein? Es muß sein."
"Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est. (Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over.)"
"Ich werde im Himmel hören! (I will hear in heaven!)"
"To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable"
"Immer spricht man von der Cis-moll-Sonate; ich habe doch wahrhaftig Besseres geschrieben. Da ist die Fis-dur-Sonate doch etwas anderes."