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Artur Schnabel Quotes

Artur Schnabel was an Austrian classical pianist, who also composed and taught. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th century's most respected and most important pianists, his playing displayed marked vitality, profundity and spirituality in the Austro-German classics, particularly the works of Beethoven and Schubert. His performances of these compositions have often been hailed as models of interpretative penetration. His best-known recording is of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas; recorded between 1932 and 1935, it is the first recording ever made of the complete cycle of 32 sonatas, leading Harold C. Schonberg to refer to Schnabel as "the man who invented Beethoven".

✵ 17. April 1882 – 15. August 1951
Artur Schnabel photo
Artur Schnabel: 5 quotes0 likes

Famous Artur Schnabel Quotes

“The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes – ah, that is where the art resides.”

Artur Schnabel

Quoted in the Chicago Daily News, June 11, 1958.

“I know two kinds of audience only – one coughing, and one not coughing.”

Artur Schnabel

Source: My Life and Music (1961), p. 202

“I am attracted only to music which I consider to be better than it can be performed. Therefore I feel (rightly or wrongly) that unless a piece of music presents a problem to me, a never-ending problem, it doesn't interest me too much.”

Artur Schnabel

Often misquoted as "Great music is better than it can be performed".
Source: My Life and Music (1961), p. 121

“Children are given Mozart because of the small quantity of the notes; grown-ups avoid Mozart because of the great quality of the notes.”

Artur Schnabel

Source: My Life and Music (1961), p. 122

“Applause is a receipt, not a note of demand.”

Artur Schnabel

Saturday Review of Literature September 29, 1951.
Explaining why he never played encores.

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