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About this quote

What does it mean?
Musical outcomes often defy the composer's original intentions.
In plain terms
Music does not always follow the plan.
What can you take from it?
Accept that creative results may differ from plans.

Where it applies

  • creative work
  • artistic projects
  • composition

Putting it to work

  • artistic process
  • composition

Questions to consider

  • How much control should an artist have?
  • When does planning hinder creativity?

Another view

It undervalues the importance of deliberate planning.

More from Morton Feldman

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  2. It appears to me that the subject of music, from Machaut to Boulez, has always been its construction. Melodies of 12-tone rows just don't happen. They must be …

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  3. ...The tragedy of music is that it begins with perfection.

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