Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
- The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.
- When I am completely myself, entirely alone or during the night when I cannot sleep, it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how these ideas come I know not nor can I force them.
- To talk well and eloquently is a very great art, but an equally great one is to know the right moment to stop.
- What’s even worse than a flute? Two flutes!
- A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether or not he travels; but a man of superior talent will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place.
- Melody is the essence of music. I compare a good melodist to a fine racer, and counterpointists to hack post-horses; therefore be advised, let well alone and remember the old Italian proverb: Chi sa piu, meno sa — He who knows most, knows least.
- Nevertheless the passions, whether violent or not, should never be so expressed as to reach the point of disgust; and music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music.
- I immerse myself in music. I think about it all day long. I like experimenting, studying, reflecting.
- They probably think because I am so small and young, nothing of greatness and class can come out of me; but they shall soon find out.
- What else is genius than that productive power through which deeds arise, worthy of standing in the presence of God and Nature, and which, for this reason, bear results and are lasting? All the creations of Mozart are of this class; within them there is a generative force which is transplanted from generation to generation, and is not likely soon to be exhausted or devoured.