Composer Quotes.

[yewtree]

"Without craftmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind."

Brahms.

[themeandvariation]

"The violin concerto of Brahms does not please me better than any other of his works. He is certainly a great musician, even a master, but his mastery overwhelms his inspiration."
 (and continuing!)…"So many preparations and circumlocutions for something that ought to charm us at once - and nothing comes but boredom… It lacks poetry, but makes great pretensions to profundity. His music is made of some indefinable 'something', skillfully welded together.."

Tchaikovsky - from a a letter to Nadezhda von Meck, Rome, February 18, 1880.

[themeandvariation]

"Many new and significant talents have arisen; a new power in music seems to announce itself.
..[a musician] called to give expression to his times in ideal fashion; a musician who would reveal his mastery not from a gradual evolution, but one who, like Athena, would spring fully armed from the head of Zeus. And such one has appeared. His name is Johannes Brahms."
  from R. Schumann's last article, "New Roads".

[themeandvariation]

"As for Thalberg, he plays excellently, but he's not my man. Younger than I, he pleases the ladies, makes potpourris from 'The Dumb Girl' , gets his piano effects by means of the pedal, not the hand, takes tenths as easily as I do octaves - has  diamond shirt studs - does not admire Moscheles; so don't be surprised that only the tutti of my concerto pleased him"

Chopin - from a letter to Jan Matuszynski, 1830.

[themeandvariation]

"These atonalist! Damn it all, I did my composing without any 'ism' in mind.  What has it got to do with me?"
  Schoenberg, in a letter to Kandinsky 1922

[visitor]

This is a cool thread, some of what came to mind is probably not best posted ie nsfw etc but do sime internetz search for Mozart examples i have a hard time even posting the key word but letz keep it appropriate and just say wolfie was a fan of crude bathroom humor

[ronde_des_sylphes]

"I do not like to be accompanied" - Thalberg on the suggestion he play a duet with Liszt.

[visitor]

 ... so much i like to drink Scotch that sometimes I think my name is Igor Stra-whiskey.

Igor Stravinsky

[ronde_des_sylphes]

"I have played over the music of that scoundrel Brahms. What a giftless bastard!" - Tchaikovsky.

[yewtree]

Music as a means of getting money,  is hell! 

  --Holst.

[visitor]

Jose Antonio Bowen writes about the context of the quote below
"It was not uncommon for him to draw a girl who had just played form the piano-stool to his arms, kiss her repeatedly as a reward, and then turn some gentlemen present with a malicious smile and remark, 'Yes, Mr.___, you would like to be Liszt, wouldn't you? Go home and practice some more.--Liszt"

[georgey]

Stand up and take your dissonance like a man.

Charles Ives

I don't write music for sissy ears.

Charles Ives

Please don't try to make things nice! All the wrong notes are right. Just copy as I have -- I want it that way.

Charles Ives

[yewtree]

I have long been thinking of abandoning these nonsensical terms allegro, andante, adagio, presto, and Mälzel’s metronome gives us the best opportunity to do so. I give you my word here and now that I will never use them again in any of my new compositions.” (Letter to Hofrat von Mosel, 1817)

Beethoven.