Nothing is more odious than music without hidden meaning.
Frederic ChopinRead
The Official Bulletin declared that the Poles should be as proud of me as the Germans are of Mozart; obvious nonsense.
Interpretation
Chopin expresses how the pride of a nation in an artist is subjective and varies from culture to culture.
In this quote, Frederic Chopin reflects on the contrasting perceptions of national pride in artists, suggesting that while the Germans rightfully celebrate Mozart, it is nonsensical to expect the same level of pride from the Poles for him. This highlights the complexities of cultural identity and the subjective nature of appreciation in the arts, where different backgrounds foster distinct connections to artists.
In practice
During a speech at a cultural event, one might quote Chopin to emphasize the importance of national pride in celebrating homegrown talent.
Nothing is more odious than music without hidden meaning.
It is dreadful when something weighs on your mind, not to have a soul to unburden yourself to. You know what I mean. I tell my piano the things I used to tell you.
Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties.
Put all your soul into it, play the way you feel!
All the same it is being said everywhere that I played too softly, or rather, too delicately for people used to the piano-pounding of the artists here.
Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.
When I go to a gig and I hear a song that I really like, a song that hits home to me or hits an emotional nerve, if I could ever recreate that for someone, that would be the ultimate goal.
My introduction of Whitney was that if there's going to be one performer for the next generation who combined the beauty and lyric phrasing of a Lena Horne with those Gospel fiery roots of an Aretha Franklin, it would be Whitney Houston.
It's a folk singer's job to comfort disturbed people and to disturb comfortable people
If it screams truth rather than help, if it commits itself with a courage that it can't be sure it really has, if it stands up and admits that something is wrong, but doesn't insist on blood, then it's rock n' roll.
One thing is that I wasn't getting booked that well, and they had control over who got the awards, they had control over who sold. And they really did not want Willie or me, either one, to have a hit record. They wanted the money, but they didn't want us to be the ones.
I'm one of a dying breed who goes out and tours all the time. Labels don't spend the money to send people out to play before they become famous, but we did do that so the fans we have are word of mouth fans who have been travelling around with us for years, and they buy the albums, but they are also the ones who go out and get the bootlegs. I don't discourage bootlegging, I like playing live, I don't think it hurts my album sales at all if there are bootlegs out there. Who cares?
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