Nadia Boulanger Quotes

All you have to do is play one note. But it needs to be the right note.

In symphonic music, when you are conducting, you do the same thing. You are feeling the whole orchestra, thinking ahead so you can prepare for a change.

There's no performance where I never have to think about setting up a phrase or making a technical adjustment while I'm performing.

The value of music is to be able to play one note at the right time in the right way.

No one should be allowed to make music as if he were made of wood. One must reproduce the musical text exactly, but not play like a stone.

My training in music and composition then led me to a kind of musical language process in which, for example, the sound of the words I play with has to expose their true meaning against their will so to speak.

In music, the punctuation is absolutely strict, the bars and rests are absolutely defined. But our punctuation cannot be quite strict, because we have to relate it to the audience. In other words we are continually changing the score.

I am an interpreter of music rather than a composer of it.

How to play music may be known. At the commencement of the piece, all the parts should sound together. As it proceeds, they should be in harmony while severally distinct and flowing without break, and thus on to the conclusion.

Scales played in the correct musical way are very exciting and rewarding.

I admire Tom Ades: he's a brilliant conductor, and he gets just the right hard, brilliant sound from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for Russian music.

The music stuff has been very difficult. It's got to be right, and even then, it better be on key.

I was always pretty decent at fast stick work or doing stuff that seems impressive that's not really; I was pretty tasteful and had good ideas musically. But I had a terrible sense of tempo, which is like being a blind painter. The conductor would just rip into me, and it lasted for years.

I feel like the guitar playing gives me rhythm with my punches - really helps to change up my jab.

I like to have space between the notes. I like to use silence.

Finally Beiderbecke came out with a silver cornet. He put it to his lips and blew a phrase. The sound came out like a girl saying 'yes'.

Songs that don't depend on composition depend instead on performance - so the fire has to be there in the playing.

I played 'Eruption' two times for the record, and we kept the one that seemed to flow ... there's a mistake at the top end of it whenever I hear it, I always think, Man I could've played it better ... but I like the way it sounds. I'd never heard a guitar sound like that before.

In music, silence is more important than sound.

I love hearing strong, confident beats in music because I love to dance. At the same time, melody is really important to me because I love singing.

To his orchestra Stop da music, stop da music! You're supposed to follow da music, not chase it all over da place.

Then I began to play. Variations on a G major chord, the most wonderful chord known to mankind, infinitely happy. I could live inside a G major chord, with Grace, if she was willing. Everything uncomplicated and good about me could be summed up by that chord.

Music does not replace words, it gives tone to the words

I'm really good at melodic and sonic things, but I don't really think I have anything to say. But I really enjoy the puzzle-making of taking words and adding a melody to them.

I was a little worried that the familiarity would be a little weird, but I think for me everything is musical in my life. For me, timing is a rhythm.