A melody is not merely something you can hum.
--Aaron Copland
Composers tend to assume that everyone loves music. Surprisingly enough, everyone doesn't.
--Aaron Copland
I adore extravagance but I abhor waste.
--Aaron Copland
I object to background music no matter how good it is.
--Aaron Copland
If a literary man puts together two words about music, one of them will be wrong.
--Aaron Copland
If you want to know about the Sixties, play the music of The Beatles.
--Aaron Copland
Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness- I wouldn't know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self- consciousness.
--Aaron Copland
Most people use music as a couch; they want to be pillowed on it, relaxed and consoled for the stress of daily living. But serious music was never meant to be soporific.
--Aaron Copland
Music that is born complex is not inherently better or worse than music that is born simple.
--Aaron Copland
So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it.
--Aaron Copland
The greatest moments of the human spirit may be deduced from the greatest moments in music.
--Aaron Copland
The main thing is to be satisfied with your work yourself. It's useless to have an audience happy if you are not happy.
--Aaron Copland
The melody is generally what the piece is all about.
--Aaron Copland
The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, 'Is there a meaning to music?' My answer would be, 'Yes.' And 'Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?' My answer to that would be, 'No.'
--Aaron Copland
There is something about music that keeps its distance even at the moment that it engulfs us. It is at the same time outside and away from us and inside and part of us. In one sense it dwarfs us, and in another we master it. We are led on and on, and yet in some strange way we never lose control.
--Aaron Copland
To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.
--Aaron Copland
Found 16 occurence(s) in 52,042 quotation(s).