Quote #21

After conducting an orchestra through a piece of music - 'Bass Trombone, you are out of tune.' [a voice comes from the orchestra saying] 'Sir, the bass trombonist hasn't arrived yet.' [To which Beecham replied] 'Oh... well when he arrives, tell him he's out of tune.'

More from Thomas Beecham

  1. 'I have just been all round the world and have formed a very poor opinion of it'.
  2. On a grave stone is written: 'Here lies a fantastic organist and an excellent musician.' [Beecham then comments...] 'What, both in the same…
  3. 'Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away'.
  4. It is quite untrue that British people don't appreciate music. They may not understand it but they absolutely love the noise it makes.
  5. 'Try everything once except folk dancing and incest'. (This is also attributed to Sir Arnold Bax, George S. Kaufman, Oscar Wilde and Winsto…
  6. In the first movement alone, I took note of six pregnancies and at least four miscarriages.
  7. On Beethoven's Seventh Symphony: 'What can you do with it? It's like a lot of yaks jumping about.'
  8. Of Beethoven - 'Beethoven's last quartets were written by a deaf man and should only be listened to by a deaf man'

All Thomas Beecham quotes