Skip to main content

A self-respecting artist must ...

A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

Sometimes I observe with curio...

Sometimes I observe with curiosity that uninterrupted activity which, independent of the subject of any conversation I may be carrying on, continues its course in that department of my brain that is devoted to music.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

Music is an incomparably more ...

Music is an incomparably more powerful means and is a subtler language for expressing the thousand different moments of the soul's moods.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

I sit down to the piano regula...

I sit down to the piano regularly at nine-o'clock in the morning and Mesdames les Muses have learned to be on time for that rendezvous.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

You see, my dear friend, I am...

You see, my dear friend, I am made up of contradictions, and I have reached a very mature age without resting upon anything positive, without having calmed my restless spirit either by religion or philosophy. Undoubtedly I should have gone mad but for music. Music is indeed the most beautiful of all Heaven's gifts to humanity wandering in the darkness. Alone it calms, enlightens, and stills our souls. It is not the straw to which the drowning man clings; but a true friend, refuge, and comforter, for whose sake life

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

To regret the past, to hope in...

To regret the past, to hope in the future, and never to be satisfied with the present: that is what I spend my whole life doing

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

Mozart is the musical Christ....

Mozart is the musical Christ.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

We must always work, and a sel...

We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood. If we wait for the mood, without endeavoring to meet it halfway, we easily become indirect and apathetic.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

If that condition of mind and ...

If that condition of mind and soul, which we call inspiration, lasted long without intermission, no artist could survive it. The strings would break and the instrument be shattered into fragments.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

Truly there would be reason to...

Truly there would be reason to go mad were it not for music.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

Where the heart does not enter...

Where the heart does not enter; there can be no music.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

I have put my whole soul into ...

I have put my whole soul into this work [The Pathetique Symphony] . . . You cannot imagine what joy I feel at the thought that my days are not yet over and that I may still accomplish much.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

Brahms stayed an extra day to ...

Brahms stayed an extra day to hear my [Fifth] Symphony and was very kind ... I like his honesty and open-mindedness. Neither he nor the players liked the finale, which I also think rather horrible.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

Mozart is the highest, the cul...

Mozart is the highest, the culminating point that beauty has attained in the sphere of music.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

It is already a great thing if...

It is already a great thing if the main ideas and general outline of a work come without any racking of brains, as the result of that supernatural and inexplicable force we call inspiration.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

What I need is to believe in m...

What I need is to believe in myself againЂ' for my faith has been greatly undermined; it seems to me my role is over.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

There is no doubt that even th...

There is no doubt that even the greatest musical geniuses have sometimes worked without inspiration. This guest (inspiration) does not always respond to the first invitation. We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood. If we wait for the mood, without endeavouring to meet it half-way, we easily become indolent and apathetic. We must be patient, and believe that inspiration will come to those who can master their disinclination.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

The creative process is like m...

The creative process is like music which takes root with extraordinary force and rapidity

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

I feel I shall live a long tim...

I feel I shall live a long time.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes

Even in the works of the great...

Even in the works of the greatest master, the organic sequence can fail and then a skillful join must be made.

Petr Chaikovskiy 31 quotes