Richard Strauss Quotes

Very fine, but why do you put so many wrong notes in? Basically, it is all built on simple triads.

Conducting is, after all, a difficult business – one has to be seventy years of age to realise this fully!

Declarations about war and politics are not fitting for an artist, who must give his attention to his creations and his works.

“What do I think of Jazz? Jazz is royal concert in the palace of King Attila! The original negro melodies from which it is derived are sublime, but Jazz —" said Dr.Strauss shrugging his shoulders.

Thirty years ago I was regarded as a rebel, but to-day, as you see, I have lived to find myself a classic.

:2. You should not perspire when conducting: only the audience should get warm.

It is clear to me that the German nation will achieve new creative energy only by liberating itself from Christianity

The melodic idea which suddenly falls upon me out of the blue appears in the imagination immediately, unconsciously, uninfluenced by reason. It is the greatest gift of the divinity and cannot be compared with anything else.

My wife, my child, my music, Nature and the sun; they are my happiness.

Please start from the Bruch violin concerto again!

When during my stay in Egypt I became familiar with the works of Nietzsche, whose polemic against christianity was particularly to my liking, the antipathy which I had always felt against a religion which relieves the faithful of responsibility for their actions (by means of confession) was confirmed and strengthened.

:6. If you think that the brass is not blowing hard enough, tone it down another shade or two.

The left hand has nothing to do with conducting. Its proper place is the waistcoat pocket from which it should only emerge to restrain or make some minor gesture for which in any case a scarcely perceptible glance should suffice.

Producers of opera nowadays usually make the mistake of translating each particular orchestral phrase into terms of a movement on the stage. In this matter one should proceed with a maximum of caution and good taste. There is no objection to bringing life to into the production by changes of position and new nuances of acting during repetitive passages of music, especially in arias. Preludes of one or two bars frequently, and especially in Mozart, clearly express some gesture on stage. But each trill on the flute does not represent a wink on the prima donna, nor every delayed chord on the strings a step or gesture. Whole passages, especially in the finales, are pure concert music and are best left undisturbed by “play acting”.

:7. It is not enough that you yourself can hear every word the soloist sings - you know it off by heart anyway: the audience must be able to follow without effort. If they do not understand the words they will go to sleep.