In truth, I became a conductor because deep down I wanted to conduct Brahms's four symphonies and Richard Strauss's tone poems.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a deep personal motivation to conduct specific pieces of music by renowned composers.
Zubin Mehta reveals his intrinsic motivation for becoming a conductor, indicating that his passion for conducting was significantly influenced by his desire to interpret and bring to life the works of Brahms and Strauss. This highlights the idea that personal aspirations and deep-seated passions can drive individuals to pursue their chosen paths in life.
In practice
In a speech about pursuing one's dreams, this quote can illustrate the importance of passion in career choices.
Go to the young conductors who are not making it, and you will hear how we shouldn't push ourselves or sell ourselves, how they don't have the right connections and the right opportunities. Well, you can be sure they've had the opportunities.
Some musical directors have more chutzpah. They pick up the phone and talk people into giving. I prefer to call and say 'thank you' after the money has been contributed.
I used to think that, given enough goodwill, anybody would be able to 'get' any music, no matter how distant the culture from which it came. And then I heard Chinese opera.
The future of rock belongs to women.
Ambient music must be as ignorable as it is interesting.
Paul Ryan's love for Rage Against The Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades
If Hip Hop has the ability to corrupt young minds, it also has the ability to Uplift them.
One thing that sticks in my mind is that jazz means freedom and openness. It's a music that, although it developed out of the African American experience, speaks more about the human experience than the experience of a particular people.
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