Music Composition Quotes

“Whether one calls oneself conservative or revolutionary, whether one composes in a conventional or progressive manner, whether one tries to imitate old styles or is destined to express new ideas -- whether one is a good composer or not -- one must be convinced of the infallibility of one's own fantasy and one must believe in one's own inspiration. ("Composition with Twelve Tones")”
― Arnold Schoenberg, Style and Idea: Selected Writings of Arnold Schoenberg

“Once music is
detached from function, once it becomes a repertory art, it
explicitly strives to define itself, out of itself, to become "mathemat-
ical"—that is to say,
to begin from premises and proceed to
conclusions by interpreting its own universe, finding
its own
laws. Systems of harmony and counterpoint become tools for
elaborate musical explorations. A great deal of Western music
is as much a manifestation of idealism as is mathematics.”
― Edward rothstein, Emblems of Mind: The Inner Life of Music and Mathematics

“2:30: Guitar practice. She was working on a piece of her own composition, something with lots of notes that was about the sky and birds. She sang along with half-formed words she hadn't quite figured out the meaning of yet, and apologized to the nameless medieval composer whose original piece she had stolen bits from.”
― Liz Braswell, What Once Was Mine

“Ethics and Songwriting (The Sonnet)

I wish I could write music,
For one song is worth ten sonnets.
One sonnet is worth ten essays,
One essay is worth ten speeches.
That's why I have respect for those,
Singers who do their own writing.
While I pity the empty entertainers,
Who do nothing but counterfeiting.
It's okay if you sing someone's song,
At least make way for equal recognition.
Exploiting talent 'cause they're struggling,
Is fundamentally a human rights violation.
Every industry lacks ethics in its story of origin.
It's time we right the wrongs and get humanizing.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“Music, being identical with heaven, isn't a thing of momentary thrills, or even hourly ones. It's a condition of eternity.”
― Gustav Holst, Gustav Holst, letters to W. G. Whittaker

“Music is the outward and audible signification of inward and spiritual realities.”
― Peter Warlock, Saudades / Peter Warlock. 1923 [Leather Bound]