"The beat must not be like a tyrannical hammer, impeding or urging on, but must be to the music what the pulse-beat is to the life of man. There is no slow tempo in which passages do not occur that demand a quicker motion, so as to obviate the impression of dragging. Conversely there is no presto that does not need a quiet delivery by many places, so as not to throw away the chance of expressiveness by hurrying... Neither the quickening nor the slowing of the tempo should ever give the impression of the spasmodic or the violent. The changes, to have a musical-poetic significance, must come in an orderly way in periods and phrases, conditioned by the varying warmth of the expression. We have in music no signs for all this. They exist only in the sentient soul. If they are not there, then there is no help to be had from the metronome – which obviates only the grosser errors – nor from these extremely imperfect precepts of mine."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
quoted in Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Conductors (1981)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Maria_von_Weber
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Carl Maria von Weber
1786 – 1826
deutscher Komponist
3 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Carl Maria von Weber →
Related Quotes
"Freunde müßen sich frey bewegen können, und die Freundschaft muß ihnen durch Formen keine Feßeln aufzwingen."
"Der Künstler ist einmal zum Märtirer des geselligen Lebens erkohren, und wohl dem der seine Bestimmung erfüllt."
"We must always aim for the top and I see my role as helping recognise our wealth of talent and helping make sure the …"
"I had a burning passion for music as early as I can remember and I was happy to discover that I was gifted in this ar…"
"To be where I am, there came about a combination of many things that include hard work, perseverance and adherence to…"
"I am 47 years right now, the journey had its fair share of ups and downs"
"With the current economic climate, the downs are many"
"They are running in their own lane so they won’t disturb anybody"
"Dancehall has provided employment to a lot of young people who are now entertainers, producers and dancers, so it's a…"
"It’s basically a book of answers. I asked my fans on Facebook to post questions concerning the Zimbabwean music indus…"