charles

“On the one hand, the arts benefited from strong state support and from a state-sponsored mindset that promoted a high regard for cultural achievements as a core value of Soviet civilization. On the other hand, constraints were put on artistic development by the regime's ideologically driven attempt to control artistic creation.”
― Christina Ezrahi, Swans of the Kremlin: Ballet and Power in Soviet Russia

“The little Prelude in C Major that starts the set is one of Bach’s most famous and beloved pieces (it was reportedly a favorite of his, too), yet what appears to be a simple rippling up and down on chords disguises a complex interweaving of melodies.”
― Jan Swafford, Language of the Spirit: An Introduction to Classical Music

“Artur Schnabel, one of the towering pianists of the twentieth century. Modified in tone but not spirit from Schnabel’s interview remarks in Chicago the same year Germany surrendered to the Allies. She also knew this was about as high a compliment as Paul Mandelbaum was capable of making. Schnabel’s performances of the thirty-two Beethoven sonatas were possibly the only thing her mentor was capable of carrying on about ad nauseam. You were never going to enter his pantheon of star pupils unless you gave yourself over, heart and soul, to Schnabel’s interpretation of Beethoven’s Klaviersonaten and the virtuoso’s idea that the greatest music was that which is “better than it can be performed.”
― Bradford Morrow, The Prague Sonata

“Music, I’d heard him say, was like dessert. He could live without it, but life just wasn’t as good.”
― Sara Nović, Girl at War