Pierre Boulez Quotes

Conducting, I tried it once off the cuff, and quickly realized there were subtle aspects that I was missing. There is a lot more to it that I was able to grasp simply by watching conductors.

Of course the most difficult thing on the violin is always intonation. The second one is rhythm. If you play in tune, in time with a good sound that's already high level. Those three are the main things.

Conducting has more to do with singing and breathing than with piano-playing.

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.

The real art of conducting consists in transitions.

We need improvement in the style of performance. There is no more advantage in a musician who plays and conducts than in one who is only a beater of rhythm.

I play more rhythmically than I do a lot of notes.

I don't really care about a song or lyrics; I'm really just interested in the way people emphasize words. That's what makes a strong impact on me.

Using string bends instead of just playing regular, unbent notes can definitely help give certain riffs a cooler, heavier edge.

The most important thing is to make a percussive instrument a singing instrument. Teachers should stress this aspect in their instruction, but it seems that very few of them actually do.

I really want to get better at conducting.

When I started, I'd never had a conducting lesson in my life; I could just do it.

We have to put expressions in a song when we sing it.

You really have to play with the space in a riff so it can be allowed to breathe.

I have a big problem with conductors who gesture a lot.

Basically speaking, conducting is quite a healthy profession.

I kind of alternate between conducting and playing and kind of juggling those things, but I don't use a baton.

I realized that equipment really had little to do with why I sound like the way I sound.

I've done a lot of performance practice, Baroque playing, and some of the joy and the challenge of it is figuring out what the composer intended... You have music of the 17th century - it's all whole notes and half notes. But inside of that, there are so many things that one can do, at least according to what we know about performance practice.

I think the fundamental part of my technique is my vibrato.

It's impossible to play a run with as much feeling as a single note. I've never been so much into runs as making single notes cry.

Conducting is a strange thing to teach.

Technique is communication: the two words are synonymous in conductors.

I endeavor that all orchestras I conduct sound Central European.

Good conductors know when to push and when to lay back. I've known so many great conductors that I'm still doing what I can to learn the craft of this role.