Composer Quotes
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That is basically me, and although I have done many things in my life - conducting, playing piano, and so on - what is fundamental is my being a composer.
Morton Gould
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I'm a composer, man.
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks
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...stories about [the German composer Johannes] Brahms's rudeness and wit amused me in particular. For instance, I loved the one about how a great wine connoisseur invited the composer to dinner. 'This is the Brahms of my cellar,' he said to his guests, producing a dust-covered bottle and pouring some into the master's glass. Brahms looked first at the color of the wine, then sniffed its bouquet, finally took a sip, and put the glass down without saying a word. 'Don't you like it?' asked the host. 'Hmm,' Brahms muttered. 'Better bring your Beethoven!'
Arthur Rubinstein
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I'm not an architectural composer.
Harrison Birtwistle
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I can think and play stuff in classical music that possibly violinists who didn't have access to other types of music could never do. It means I'm more flexible within classical music, to be a servant to the composer.
Nigel Kennedy
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I've been called a minimalist composer for more than 30 years, and while I've never really agreed with the description, I've gotten used to it.
Philip Glass
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The first requirement for a composer is to be dead.
Arthur Honegger
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Thrilled to be honoured by the ISM and to be joining such an eminent list of members who have received the Distinguished Musician Award.
Malcolm Arnold
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Pianists call me a composer, composers call me a pianist. The classicists think me a futurist, and the futurists call me a reactionary.
Anton Rubinstein
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The modern composer is a madman who persists in manufacturing an article which nobody wants.
Arthur Honegger
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Mozart's job classification was to write music, which he did for ballets and operas. He got paid to do that, and taught on the side. He wasn't a waiter. He didn't sell mutual funds. Those are all noble professions, but if you want to be a professional composer, then you're writing dramatic music for film and television.
Bill Conti
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Every orchestra I know, every opera house I know, is desperately looking around trying to find new talent, new composing talent, supporting young composers, supporting new ideas, supporting new ways of getting the message across.
Esa-Pekka Salonen
