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You should neither play bad compositions, nor, unless compelled, listen to them.

Robert Schumann

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Robert Schumann
Age: 46 †
Born: 1810
Born: June 8
Died: 1856
Died: July 29
Composer
Conductor
Music Critic
Music Pedagogue
Musician
Musicologist
Pianist
Robert Alexander Schumann
Listen
Play
Compositions
Compelled
Composition
Neither
Unless

More quotes by Robert Schumann

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The aesthetic principle is the same in every art, only the material differs.
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It is the curse of talent that, although it labors with greater steadiness and perseverance than genius, it does not reach its goal, while genius already on the summit of the ideal, gazes laughingly about.
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We have learned to express the more delicate nuances of feeling by penetrating more deeply into the mysteries of harmony.
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People compose for many reasons, to become immortal because the piano happens to be open because they want to become a millionaire because of the praise of friends because they have looked into a pair of beautiful eyes or for no reason whatsoever.
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Perhaps only a Genius can truly understand Genius.
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The poet sees better than other mortals. I do not see things as they are, but according to my own subjective impression, and this makes life easier and simpler.
Robert Schumann
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My heart pounds sickeningly and I turn pale... I often feel as if I were dead... I seem to be losing my mind.
Robert Schumann
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For me, music is always the language which permits one to converse with the Beyond.
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You will be most readily cured of vanity or presumption by studying the history of music, and by hearing the master pieces which have been produced at different periods.
Robert Schumann
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Talent works, genius creates.
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Nature best teaches how to pray, and how to reverence all the gifts the Almighty has given us. She is like a vast outspread handkerchief, embroidered with God's eternal name, on which we may dry alike our tears of sorrow and of joy she turns weeping into ecstasy, and fills our hearts with speechless, quiet reverence and resignation.
Robert Schumann
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If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. therefore, respect every musician in his proper place.
Robert Schumann
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Confidence and courage are special skills to the art ... Within the four walls of his study, the artist should be modest, work diligently and conscientiously. While for the public, he'll show himself audacious, yes even into cheerful boldness. And so a new public's darling has arisen.
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It was an unforgettable picture to see Chopin sitting at the piano like a clairvoyant, lost in his dreams to see how his vision communicated itself through his playing, and how, at the end of each piece, he had the sad habit of running one finger over the length of the plaintive keyboard, as though to tear himself forcibly away from his dream.
Robert Schumann
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You write to become immortal, or because the piano happens to be open, or you've looked into a pair of beautiful eyes.
Robert Schumann
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Does it not seem as if Mozart's works become fresher and fresher the oftener we hear them?
Robert Schumann
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I was a God-fearing child, innocent and physically attractive.
Robert Schumann
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My symphonies would have reached Opus 100 if I had but written them down... Sometimes I am so full of music, and so overflowing with melody, that I find it simply impossible to write down anything.
Robert Schumann
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In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of.
Robert Schumann
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Remember, there are more people in the world than yourself. Be modest! You have not yet invented nor thought anything which others have not thought or invented before. And should you really have done so, consider it a gift of heaven which you are to share with others.
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