My music must be an artistic reproduction of human speech in all its finest shades. That is, the sounds of human speech, as the external manifestations of thought and feeling must, without exaggeration or violence, become true, accurate music.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Music should accurately reflect human speech tones and emotions without exaggeration.
- In plain terms
- Great music mimics the way humans speak and feel.
- What can you take from it?
- Music works best when it sounds like natural speech.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Should music sound like speech?
- How do you hear emotion in melody?
Another view
Some music styles value abstraction over speech-like realism.
More from Modest Mussorgsky
In poetry there are two giants, rough Homer and fine Shakespere. In music likewise we have two giants, Beethoven, the thinker, and the superthinker Berlioz.
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