„The howls of Cerberus, though resembling thy music, will be less offensive to me, for I have never been the friend of Cerberus, and I need not be ashamed of his howling.“

„Liszt has never needed revival; his music has always been an important part of the concert repertoire. Nevertheless, he has appeared to need rehabilitation.“

—  Charles Rosen American pianist and writer on music 1927 - 2012

Forrás: The Romantic Generation (1995), Ch. 8 : Liszt: On Creation as Performance

„I've never been comfortable working live, and I'm still not. I was always more music-oriented and less star-oriented, which is why I've never been comfortable on big stages in big halls.“

—  Van Morrison Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician 1945

An Oral History of Popular Music (1989)

„I simply make music, and people have always been foolish enough to pay me for it. I never told them that I would have done it all for nothing.“

—  Leopold Stokowski British conductor 1882 - 1977

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Newton%2BClassics/8802024 CBS TV 1976

„The world in books seemed so much more alive to me than anything outside. I could see things I'd never seen before. Books and music were my best friends. I had a couple of good friends at school, but never met anyone I could really speak my heart to.“

—  Haruki Murakami, könyv Sputnik Sweetheart

Forrás: Sputnik Sweetheart

„I have never been able to understand women composers who do not wish to be called women composers. I understand their argument but it seems so superficial to me. Our strength lies in our identification with women and music.“

—  Beth Anderson American neo-romantic composer 1950

What Makes Music Woman Oriented (1996)

„All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it.“

—  Jean Cocteau French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker 1889 - 1963

Le Coq et l’Arlequin (1918)

„Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me.“

—  Vincent Van Gogh Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890) 1853 - 1890

In his letter to Theo, from The Hague, 21 July 1882, http://www.vggallery.com/letters/245_V-T_218.pdf
1880s, 1882
Kontextus: What am I in the eyes of most people — a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person — somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then — even if that were absolutely true, then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart.
That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion.
Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum.

„Well, I never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it“

—  Hoyt Axton American country singer 1938 - 1999

Never Been to Spain · Three Dog Night performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKSrHMqQTEI · Elvis Presley performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62s5QIB3WXE
Joy To The World (1971)
Kontextus: Well, I never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it
They don't abuse it, never gonna lose it
I can't refuse it.

„(When asked what shaped his musical preferences) That comes from many directions. My parents, relatives, and friends shaped a good part of that, and whatever I heard on the radio and mtv growing up (back when MTV was actually a music channel instead of a teenage reality show channel) and movies I loved, just wherever it came from that exposed me to it I would weed out quickly what I did and didn't care for. My music tastes have always been diverse, though I tried to kid myself at certain times that I only like this or that, no matter what everything I ever liked has still stuck with me so I learned to embrace that and not close myself off to things.“

—  Frank Klepacki American musician, video game music composer and sound director 1974

Gameplay magazine

„I confess that I am no longer thinking in musical terms, or at least not much, even though I believe with all my heart that Music remains for all time the finest means of expression we have.“

—  Claude Debussy French composer 1862 - 1918

Letter to Paul Dukas (1901)
Kontextus: I confess that I am no longer thinking in musical terms, or at least not much, even though I believe with all my heart that Music remains for all time the finest means of expression we have. It’s just that I find the actual pieces — whether they’re old or modern, which is in any case merely a matter of dates — so totally poverty-stricken, manifesting an inability to see beyond the work-table. They smell of the lamp, not of the sun. And then, overshadowing everything, there’s the desire to amaze one’s colleagues with arresting harmonies, quite unnecessary for the most part. In short, these days especially, music is devoid of emotional impact. I feel that, without descending to the level of the gossip column or the novel, it should be possible to solve the problem somehow. There’s no need either for music to make people think! … It would be enough if music could make people listen, despite themselves and despite their petty mundane troubles, and never mind if they’re incapable of expressing anything resembling an opinion. It would be enough if they could no longer recognize their own grey, dull faces, if they felt that for a moment they had been dreaming of an imaginary country, that’s to say, one that can’t be found on the map.

„I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!“

—  Amos (prophet) Hebrew prophet

5:21-24 NIV
Book of Amos

„For every album I’ve ever made, I’ve written many times more music than has actually been released, and the way I choose which music appears is almost totally random, but one thing I have never done is to make music for the sake of commercialism“

—  Vangelis Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock, and orchestral music 1943

1984
Kontextus: On albums and commercialism: "For every album I’ve ever made, I’ve written many times more music than has actually been released, and the way I choose which music appears is almost totally random, but one thing I have never done is to make music for the sake of commercialism... I don’t think it’s possible to guarantee commercial success for an album anyway, because nobody really knows what is commercial and what isn’t. Even if I went out of my way to make an album that was more accessible to the public, that would not guarantee its commercial success".

„I am not sure if I have heard a description of my music that would have been 100% accurate. I just make the kind of music I like myself, it is up to other people to find words that describe it.“

—  Jaani Peuhu Finnish musician 1978

SuomiRocks.com, 2004 http://suomirocks.com/cms/index.php?page=iconcrash,

„Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero need his theme music.“

—  Канье Уэст American rapper, singer and songwriter 1977

Power
Lyrics, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

„When I hear what we call music, it seems to me that someone is talking. And talking about his feelings, or about his ideas of relationships. But when I hear traffic, the sound of traffic — here on Sixth Avenue, for instance — I don't have the feeling that anyone is talking. I have the feeling that sound is acting. And I love the activity of sound... I don't need sound to talk to me.“

—  John Cage American avant-garde composer 1912 - 1992

Quote of Cage, in an interview with Miroslav Sebestik, 1991; in Listen, documentary by Miroslav Sebestik. ARTE France Développement, 2003; as quoted on Wikipedia, note 54
1990s

„The music is one of the beautiful things that has survived the Castro regime. I have played for audiences all over the world but I've never played for a Cuban audience. For [husband] Emilio and me, the music is the one tie to our homeland.“

—  Gloria Estefan Cuban-American singer-songwriter, actress and divorciada 1957

news.bostonherald.com (March 12, 2008)
2007, 2008

„I write music, it's performed. It can be heard, and whoever wants to hear it will. After all, my music says it all. It doesn't need historical and hysterical commentaries. In the long run, any words about music are less important than the music.“

—  Dmitri Shostakovich, könyv Testimony

Page 196
Testimony (1979)

„My motivation is that inner driving force within me to share my music with the world. I want to get my music out there so I can inspire people just as I have been inspired through music. Music makes you feel; whether it’s happy, sad, or a million different emotions which come to mind, music can invoke those feelings. That’s inspiration to me. “

—  Мэдисон Роуз

„I am a free man-and I need my freedom. I need to be alone. I need to ponder my shame and my despair in seclusion. I need sunshine and paving tones of the streets without companions, without conversation, face to face with myself with only the music of my heart for company. What do you want of me? When I have something to say, I put it in print. When I have something to give, I give it. Your prying curiosity turns my stomach! Your compliments humiliate me. Your tea poisons me! I owe nothing to anyone, I would've responsible to God alone-if he exited!“

—  Henry Miller, könyv Tropic of Cancer

Forrás: Tropic of Cancer (1934), Chapter Four, Pappin