Galina Ustvolskaya - Quotations

Quotations

  • “It is difficult to talk about one’s own music... my ability to compose music unfortunately does not coincide with the ability to write about it. There is, by the way, a commonly held view which says that the two are mutually exclusive...”
  • “All who really love my music should refrain from theoretical analysis of it...”
  • “My works are not, it is true, religious in a liturgical sense, but they are infused with a religious spirit, and to my mind they are best suited to performance in a church, without scholarly introductions and analyses. In the concert hall, that is, in ‘secular’ surroundings, the music sounds different...”
  • “With regard to the ‘Festival of Music by Women Composers’ I should like to say the following: Can a distinction really be made between music written by men and music written by women? If we now have ‘Festivals of Music by Female Composers’, would it not be right to have ‘Festivals of Music by Male Composers’? I am of the opinion that such a division should not be allowed to persist. We should only play music that is genuine and strong. If we are honest about it, a performance in a concert by Women composers is a humiliation for the music. I hope very much that my comments will cause no offence – what I say comes from my innermost soul...”
  • “My God! Give me the power to compose. I beg.”

(Galina Ustvolskaya)

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Famous quotes containing the word quotations:

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