In art there are only fast or slow developments. Essentially it is a matter of evolution, not revolution.
Bela BartokRead
Folk melodies are the embodiment of an artistic perfection of the highest order; in fact, they are models of the way in which a musical idea can be expressed with utmost perfection in terms of brevity of form and simplicity of means.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Folk melodies represent the peak of artistic achievement by effectively conveying musical ideas with simplicity and brevity.
Bela Bartok emphasizes the remarkable quality of folk melodies, portraying them as superior examples of art that encapsulate musical concepts with remarkable eloquence. He highlights how these melodies achieve a level of perfection that showcases the ability to express complex ideas through minimalistic means, thereby celebrating the artistry found in simplicity.
Themes
Folk MelodiesArtistic PerfectionSimplicityBrevityMusical Expression
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a cultural festival discussing the importance of folk music might use this quote to highlight its artistic value.
More from Bela Bartok
All quotes →I cannot conceive of music that expresses absolutely nothing.
Bela BartokRead
Similar quotes
There is no separate art of life. If you know how to allow poetry, if you know how to allow dance, if you know how to allow love - if you know how to ALLOW, then you know the art of life. In the allowing, in the let-go, in the surrender, is the art of life. How not to be and to let God be - that is the only art of life.
RajneeshRead
The camera could be a very powerful instrument against discrimination, against poverty, against racism.
Gordon ParksRead
Art should be appreciated with passion and violence, not with a tepid, depreciating elegance that fears the censoriousness of a common room.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
Art bids us touch and taste and hear and see the world, and shrinks from what Blake calls mathematic form, from every abstract form, from all that is of the brain only.
William Butler YeatsRead
The writer who refuses to explore the darker regions of the heart will never be able to write convincingly about the wonder, the magic and the joy of love for just as goodness cannot be trusted unless it has breathed the same air as evil.
Nick CaveRead
I just try to write songs that people are going to have a dialogue about.
Beyonce KnowlesRead