Quote

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.

Aaron Copland

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Aaron Copland
Age: 90 †
Born: 1900
Born: November 14
Died: 1990
Died: December 2
Choreographer
Composer
Conductor
Film Score Composer
Jazz Musician
Music Critic
Music Pedagogue
Musicologist
Pianist
Brooklyn
New York
Form
Expressive
Give
Sustain
Music
Thrive
Human
Planet
Humans
Planets
Giving
Meaning
Long
Living
Thrives
Spirit
Accompany

More quotes by Aaron Copland

Image
This whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, “Is there a meaning to music?” My answer to that would be, “Yes.” And “Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?” My answer to that would be, “No.”
Aaron Copland
Image
There is something about music that keeps its distance even at the moment that it engulfs us. It is at the same time outside and away from us and inside and part of us. In one sense it dwarfs us, and in another we master it. We are led on and on, and yet in some strange way we never lose control.
Aaron Copland
Image
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.
Aaron Copland
Image
I adore extravagance but I abhor waste.
Aaron Copland
Image
I hope my recordings of my own works won't inhibit other people's performances. The brutal fact is that one doesn't always get the exact tempo one wants, although one improves with experience.
Aaron Copland
Image
Most people use music as a couch they want to be pillowed on it, relaxed and consoled for the stress of daily living. But serious music was never meant to be soporific.
Aaron Copland
Image
To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.
Aaron Copland
Image
Listening to the Fifth Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams is like staring at a cow for 45 minutes.
Aaron Copland
Image
For me, the most important thing is the element of chance that is built into a live performance. The very great drawback of recorded sound is the fact that it is always the same. No matter how wonderful a recording is, I know that I couldn't live with it--even of my own music--with the same nuances forever.
Aaron Copland
Image
When I speak of the gifted listener, I am thinking of the nonmusician primarily, of the listener who intends to retain his amateur status. It is the thought of just such a listener that excites the composer in me.
Aaron Copland
Image
Music that is born complex is not inherently better or worse than music that is born simple.
Aaron Copland
Image
The melody is generally what the piece is all about.
Aaron Copland
Image
If you want to know about the Sixties, play the music of The Beatles.
Aaron Copland
Image
Arthur V. Berger commenting on the music of Aaron Copland: Here is at last an American that we may place unapologetically beside the great recognized creative figures of any other country.
Aaron Copland
Image
Someone once asked me... whether I waited for inspiration. My answer was: Every day!
Aaron Copland
Image
The main thing is to be satisfied with your work yourself. It's useless to have an audience happy if you are not happy.
Aaron Copland
Image
I don't compose. I assemble materials.
Aaron Copland
Image
The greatest moments of the human spirit may be deduced from the greatest moments in music.
Aaron Copland
Image
Composers tend to assume that everyone loves music. Surprisingly enough, everyone doesn’t.
Aaron Copland
Image
You may be sitting in a room reading this book. Imagine one note struck upon the piano. Immediately that one note is enough to change the atmosphere of the room - proving that the sound element in music is a powerful and mysterious agent, which it would be foolish to deride or belittle.
Aaron Copland