What is the Ninth Symphony compared to a Tin Pan Alley hit played on a hurdy-gurdy and a memory?
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Great art is sometimes less valued than simple, accessible music.
- In plain terms
- A simple hit song can be more memorable than a symphony.
- What can you take from it?
- Accessibility often beats complexity in cultural memory.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does popularity equal quality?
- Why do we remember simple things?
Another view
Complex works can still hold deep value beyond popularity.
More from Karl Kraus
There are women who are not beautiful but only look that way.
Permalink to quote #1 Love and art do not embrace what is beautiful but what is made beautiful by this embrace.
Permalink to quote #3 An aphorism can never be the whole truth; it is either a half-truth or a truth-and-a-half.
Permalink to quote #4
Related quotes
'When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone in the air. You can never capture it again.'
Eric DolphyEric Dolphy quote #1 Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.
Thomas BeechamThomas Beecham quote #1 Whereas most other modern composers are engaged in manufacturing cocktails of every hue and description, I offer the public pure cold water.
Jean SibeliusJean Sibelius quote #4