The eventual survival of the tradition is ultimately not at stake. - Charles Rosen

None of Chopin's contemporaries could rival him for the variety and effectiveness of his treatment of the return.

If getting used to music is the essential condition for understanding, it is hard to see just what purpose is served by writing about it. A few experiences of listening to a symphony or nocturne are worth more than any essay or analysis. The work of art itself teaches us how to understand it, and makes the critic not merely parasitical but strictly superfluous.

Understanding music simply means not being irritated or puzzled by it.