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.
I try to represent specific experiences of specific characters, and that's all I want to try to do. I don't ever try to think about representing a culture, because its impossible, and someone will fault you. And it just doesn't interest me.
My task, which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel--it is, before all, to make you see.
I don't have a clear biography of my own that I could recount in an interesting way. I'm made up of the characters that I pulled out of my head, that I invented.
Where there is true art and genuine virtuosity the artist can paint an incomparable masterpiece without leaving even a trace of his identity.
It has been the office of art to educate the perception of beauty. We are immersed in beauty but our eyes have no clear vision.
If there is some good in me, it is because I was born in the subtle atmosphere of your country of Arezzo. Along with the milk of my nurse I received the knack of handling chisel and hammer, with which I make my figures.
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