Letter to Camille Pleyel.
Source: (21 November 1838); published in Fryderyk Chopin, Korespondencja Fryderyka Chopina (1955), edited by Bronisław Edward Sydow, (2 vols.), Vol. 1, p. 443
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) Polish composer
Letter to Camille Pleyel.
Context: My piano has not yet arrived. How did you send it? By Marseilles or by Perpignan? I dream music but I cannot make any because here there are not any pianos... in this respect this is a savage country.
“No piano, no pupils! Such is the spirit of this country -- Music and Steam!”
Théodore Guérin (1798–1856) Catholic saint and nun from France
First Journal of Travel (1840)
Context: They [Sisters of Charity in Frederick] excel in music, which is an indispensable thing in this country, even for the poor. No piano, no pupils! Such is the spirit of this country -- Music and Steam!
“I learned to play the piano on my mother's knee - that was before we got a piano.”
Victor Borge (1909–2000) Danish and US-American comedian and musician
From the obit in the Boston Globe.
Quotations from Borge's performances
Source: Richard Dyer, "Laughter Was at the Heart of Victor Borge's Many Talents", Boston Globe, 29 December 2000
Murray Perahia (1947) American classical pianist and conductor
Of playing the harpsichord. <br class="br"> Jewish Chronicle interview http://thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m14s150&AId=57994&ATypeId=1&search=true2&srchstr=murray%20perahia&srchtxt=1&srchhead=1&srchauthor=1&srchsandp=1&scsrch=999 (8 February 2008)
“He is Mr Piano Man, I am Miss Piano Man.”
Elton John (1947) English rock singer-songwriter, composer and pianist
on touring with Billy Joel
Sixty things for Sir Elton's 60th (2007)
“The first piano was built long after they didn't have any at all.”
Victor Borge (1909–2000) Danish and US-American comedian and musician
From his skit "History of Pianos" in The Best of Victor Borge
Quotations from Borge's performances
Harry Truman (1884–1972) American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953)
As quoted in Esquire, Vol. 76 (1971), also in Truman's Crises : A Political Biography of Harry S. Truman (1980) by Harold Foote Gosnell, p. 9; sometimes paraphrased: Being a politician is like being a piano player in a whorehouse.
