Quotes by Ludwig van Beethoven

“Music is indeed the mediator between the spiritual and sensual life.”

“Fahre fort, übe nicht allein die Kunst, sondern dringe auch in ihr Inneres; sie verdient es, denn nur die Kunst und die Wissenschaft erhöhen den Menschen bis zur Gottheit.”

“I met [Meyerbeer] at the performance of my Battle. Most of the composers then in Vienna were kind enough to undertake something or other in my orchestra, and the young man played the big drum. Ha! ...”

“One clashes with stupidity of all kinds. And then how much money must be spent in advance! The way in which artists are treated is really scandalous. I am compelled to give a third of my receipts t...”

“It is a recognised fact that the greatest composers were likewise the greatest virtuosos; but did they play like the pianists of the present day, who run up and down the keyboard with passages stud...”

“The world is a king, and like a king, desires flattery in return for favor; but true art is selfish and perverse — it will not submit to the mold of flattery.”

“You will hear nothing of me here ... Fidelio? They cannot give it, nor do they want to listen to it. The symphonies? They have no time for them. My concertos? Everyone grinds out only the stuff he ...”

“The day-to-day exhausted me!”

“Ach du erbärmlicher Schuft, was ich scheiße ist besser, als was du je gedacht.”

“Muß es sein? Es muß sein.”

“Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est. (Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over.)”

“Ich werde im Himmel hören! (I will hear in heaven!)”

“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable”

“Immer spricht man von der Cis-moll-Sonate; ich habe doch wahrhaftig Besseres geschrieben. Da ist die Fis-dur-Sonate doch etwas anderes.”

“As usual he submitted to the interminable entreaties and finally was dragged almost by force to the pianoforte by the ladies. Angrily he tears the second violin part of one of the Pleyel quartets f...”

“His improvisation was most brilliant and striking. In whatever company he might chance to be, he knew how to produce such an effect upon every hearer that frequently not an eye remained dry, while ...”

“Another equally true saying of Schumann is that, compared with Beethoven, Schubert is as a woman to a man. For it must be confessed that one's attitudes towards him is almost always that of sympath...”

“A brain scan may reveal the neural signs of depression, but a Beethoven symphony reveals what that depression feels like. Both perspectives are necessary if we are to fully grasp the nature of mind...”

“If the question [about if there were only one composer in the world I could play] is purely ‘original’ works, no transcriptions, then Beethoven.”

“Beethoven did not always plumb the depths. He was not always busy with major problems and the most significant spiritual experiences. Such works, as the fourth, sixth, and eighth symphonies depict ...”