Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light.
Claude DebussyRead
If we look at the works of JS Bach ... on each page we discover things which we thought were born only yesterday, from delightful arabesques to an overflowing of religious feeling greater than anything we have since discovered.
Interpretation
Debussy expresses admiration for Bach's enduring artistry and the timeless beauty found in his works.
In this quote, Claude Debussy reflects on the profound impact of Johann Sebastian Bach's music, suggesting that each page reveals both innovative ideas and deep feelings of spirituality. Debussy believes that Bach's creations possess an ageless quality that resonates with emotions and artistic expression, highlighting the richness and depth of Bach's genius that continues to inspire even in contemporary times.
In practice
During a discussion on classical music, one might say this quote to emphasize Bach's timeless influence.
Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light.
The colour of my soul is iron-grey and sad bats wheel about the steeple of my dreams.
On those who overanalyze his music: When you tear the wings off a butterfly, it is no longer a butterfly
But music, don't you know, is a dream from which the veils have been lifted. It's not even the expression of a feeling, it's the feeling itself.
People come to music to seek oblivion: is that not also a form of deception?
Some people wish above all to conform to the rules, I wish only to render what I can hear.
Freaks was a thing I photographed a lot. It was one of the first things I photographed and it had a terrific kind of excitement for me. I just used to adore them. I still do adore some of them. I don't quite mean they're my best friends but they made me feel a mixture of shame and awe.
Leave America and you'll find that the consumers in many other countries enjoy watching advertising. Not because the products are better, but because the ads are produced to be entertaining. Sometimes they are funny. Sometimes they are dramatic. Sometimes they are just beautiful.
Why should a horror film be just a horror film? To me, The Company of Wolves is a fairy tale; it's got all those elements plus a lot more. And we know that fairy tales aren't innocent any more.
But however measurable, there is much more life in music than mathematics or logic ever dreamed of.
The job of the writer is to look at where he is now and make some sort of emotional sense of it, not only for that moment but for years to come.
Gardening is a luxury occupation: an ornament, not a necessity, of life.... Fortunate gardener, who may preoccupy himself solely with beauty in these difficult and ugly days! He is one of the few people left in this distressful world to carry on the tradition of elegance and charm. A useless member of society, considered in terms of economics, he must not be denied his rightful place. He deserves to share it, however humbly, with the painter and poet.
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