Cole Porter
“My sole inspiration is a telephone call from a producer.”
“Musicians talk of nothing but money and jobs. Give me businessmen every time. They really are interested in music and art.” – Jean Sibelius, explaining why he rarely invited musicians to his home.
Kirke Mecham
“Only become a musician if there is absolutely no other way you can make a living.”
Gustav Mahler
“Don’t bother to look, I’ve composed all this already.” – Gustav Mahler, to Bruno Walter who had stopped to admire mountain scenery in rural Austria.
Frederic Chopin
“I really don’t know whether any place contains more pianists than Paris, or whether you can find more asses and virtuosos anywhere.”
Richard Strauss
“Never look at the trombones, it only encourages them.”
Claude Debussy
“In opera, there is always too much singing.”
Gioacchino Rossini
“Oh how wonderful, really wonderful opera would be if there were no singers!”
Bing Crosby
“I think popular music in this country is one of the few things in the twentieth century that have made giant strides in reverse.”
Frank Zappa
“A ponderous orchestral absurdity.” – Frank Zappa on his rock symphony debuted by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Louis Armstrong
“All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard a horse sing a song.”
Angus Young (AC/DC)
“I’m sick to death of people saying we’ve made 11 albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we’ve made 12 albums that sound exactly the same.”
Igor Stravinsky
“My music is best understood by children and animals.”
Leonard Bernstein
“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.”
Thomas Beecham
“There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn’t give a damn what goes on in between.”
Freddie Mercury
“If I didn’t do this well, I just wouldn’t have anything to do…I can’t cook, and I’d be a terrible housewife.”
Jimi Hendrix
“I’ve been imitated so well I’ve heard people copy my mistakes.”
Jeff Beck
“After I saw Jimmy [Hendrix] play, I just went home and wondered what the f*** I was going to do with my life.”
Jim Morrison
“Actually I don’t remember being born, it must have happened during one of my black outs.”
Bela Bartok
“Competitions are for horses, not artists.”
George Harrison
“I’d rather be a musician than a rock star.”
Duke Ellington
“I never had much interest in the piano until I realized that every time I played, a girl would appear on the piano bench to my left and another to my right.”
Keith Richards
“Let me be clear about this: I don’t have a drug problem, I have a police problem.”
John Cage
“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.”
Bob Dylan
“Colleges are a lot like old-age homes. Except that more people die in college.”
Paul Simon
This is a fabulous article. Thank you!