2 days ago - 
56
56I have more skill, but he is greater.
Richard Strauss, referring to Jean Sibelius
(via leadingtone)
4 days ago - 39
39
Shostakovich
Piano Sonata Nº. 2 in B minor, Op. 61
I. Allegretto
II. Largo
III. ModeratoEmil Gilels, piano
This sonata, in most respects drier and more conventional—but also more acutely expressive—than the First, was written in 1942 while the composer was evacuated from Leningrad due to German invasion. The themes themselves in the first movement, not to mention their tortured, continual development, are rife with nervous tension; but the colorful, languid inner movement is so profoundly introspective as to border on the static at times. The sonata closes with a contrapuntally conceived elaboration of a simple, angular theme.
Gilels was the foremost proponent of this work, making it a staple of his repertory; but the piano sonatas of Shostakovich and this one in particular are relatively little-heard today.
4 days ago - 35
35 Brahms’ general advice to composers
- When you study music, the most important thing to learn is strict counterpoint.
- Writing variations is something good for the beginner.
- Usually the best ideas flow from the hand and mind without particular effort; these are the ideas which will endure in your compositions.
- Never begin the working-out of a composition before the whole thing has taken definite form as an outline on paper or in your head. When ideas come to you, go for a walk: then you will discover that the thing which you thought to be a complete idea was only the beginning of one.
“Good art should elicit a response of ‘Huh? Wow!’ as opposed to ‘Wow! Huh?’”
Edward Ruscha, 1970
(Source: kvetchlandia, via leadingtone)
I was able to draw a circle which deviated very little from when you checked it with a compass. I could draw really very well, but I think I eventually lost this capacity. But I had the idea that this sense of measurement is one of the capacities of a composer, of an artist. It is probably the basis of correct balance and logic within, if you have a strict feeling of the sizes and their mutual relationships.
Arnold Schoenberg
(via leadingtone)
