Lucy the Valiant Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 I'm giving a thank-you speech to the world's most wonderful chorale teacher tomorrow, representing a large group of parents. I'd like to lead with a meaningful quote (up to 3-4 sentences, shorter is fine) about the gift of / the inspiration of / the HUGENESS of music, especially as it's shared in community settings. Anyone have a favorite? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vasha Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 Where words fail, music speaks. Hans Christian Andersen Where words fail, music speaks. Share this Quote Hans Christian Andersen Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/music-quotes Where words fail, music speaks. Share this Quote Hans Christian Andersen Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/music-quotes 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolate-chip chooky Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 Good luck with your speech @Lucy the Valiant. How wonderful to be honouring someone you so clearly appreciate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 Music can change the world. - Ludwig van Beethoven It's not as long as maybe you were looking for in an intro quote, but it's pretty direct, lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted May 12, 2022 Author Share Posted May 12, 2022 Thank you! These are exactly what I'm looking for . . . (I'm a word person.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted May 12, 2022 Author Share Posted May 12, 2022 “Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.” – Leonard Bernstein “As long as we live, there is never enough singing.” – Martin Luther “Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” – Sergei Rachmaninoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 "Without music, life would be a mistake." - Friedrich Nietzsche If the teacher has been working with Bach Chorales, here is an appropriate one: “Beethoven tells you what it’s like to be Beethoven and Mozart tells you what it’s like to be human. Bach tells you what it’s like to be the universe.” ― Douglas Adams 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 This may not be what you are looking for but maybe you can pilfer something from it. My choir director used to give this out each year. Choral Music as Education MUSIC IS A SCIENCE It is exact, specific; it demands precise acoustics. A conductor's score is a chart, a graph which indicates frequencies, intensities, volume variations, linear melody, and harmonic density all at once within the most structured parameters of time. MUSIC IS MATHEMATICAL It is rhythmically based upon the subdivisions of time into fractions which must be executed instantaneously and extemporaneously, without benefit of calculations on paper. MUSIC IS COMMUNICATIONS AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE Most of the terms and instructive symbolism are in Italian, German, or French, and the notation itself is certainly not in English but a highly-developed kind of shorthand which uses abstract symbols to represent ideas. The semantics of music is the most complex and universal of languages. MUSIC IS HISTORY Music usually reflects the influence of the environment and time of its creation, and speaks of the country and/or ethnicity of its composer, text, or feeling. MUSIC IS PHYSICAL It requires fantastic co-ordination of fingers, hands, arms, lips, cheeks and facial muscles - in addition to extraordinary control of the diaphragmatic, back, stomach, and chest muscles which must respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets. MUSIC IS ALL THESE THINGS, BUT MOST OF ALL MUSIC IS ART It allows a human being to apply all these dry, technically boring (but difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion. These are things which technology and science cannot duplicate: humanism, feeling, emotion, soul; call it what you will. I want to teach YOU music... Not because I expect you to major in music, or to sing in choruses all your life; Not just so you can relax and have fun... but, so you will be more human, so you will recognize and embrace beauty, so you will be more sensitive, so you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world, so you will have something to cling to, have more compassion, more gentleness, more good... in short - more life. Of what real value is it to make a prosperous living, unless you know how to live? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehon Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” Plato 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted May 12, 2022 Author Share Posted May 12, 2022 11 hours ago, Sunshine State Sue said: This may not be what you are looking for but maybe you can pilfer something from it. My choir director used to give this out each year. Choral Music as Education MUSIC IS A SCIENCE It is exact, specific; it demands precise acoustics. A conductor's score is a chart, a graph which indicates frequencies, intensities, volume variations, linear melody, and harmonic density all at once within the most structured parameters of time. MUSIC IS MATHEMATICAL It is rhythmically based upon the subdivisions of time into fractions which must be executed instantaneously and extemporaneously, without benefit of calculations on paper. MUSIC IS COMMUNICATIONS AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE Most of the terms and instructive symbolism are in Italian, German, or French, and the notation itself is certainly not in English but a highly-developed kind of shorthand which uses abstract symbols to represent ideas. The semantics of music is the most complex and universal of languages. MUSIC IS HISTORY Music usually reflects the influence of the environment and time of its creation, and speaks of the country and/or ethnicity of its composer, text, or feeling. MUSIC IS PHYSICAL It requires fantastic co-ordination of fingers, hands, arms, lips, cheeks and facial muscles - in addition to extraordinary control of the diaphragmatic, back, stomach, and chest muscles which must respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets. MUSIC IS ALL THESE THINGS, BUT MOST OF ALL MUSIC IS ART It allows a human being to apply all these dry, technically boring (but difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion. These are things which technology and science cannot duplicate: humanism, feeling, emotion, soul; call it what you will. I want to teach YOU music... Not because I expect you to major in music, or to sing in choruses all your life; Not just so you can relax and have fun... but, so you will be more human, so you will recognize and embrace beauty, so you will be more sensitive, so you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world, so you will have something to cling to, have more compassion, more gentleness, more good... in short - more life. Of what real value is it to make a prosperous living, unless you know how to live? Oh, my. ❤️ This caused me to re-write my speech. THANK YOU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 (edited) Great quotes and notes (from the choir director). It would be great to add something about the team work and the listening to others as part of chorale work. Playing/performing solo has one set of skills, but making music together with others requires the solo techniques plus working together and listening to others. You have to be humble and share the 'stage' with others, while at the same time be ready to support the group when something goes wrong. None of these ideas are quotes, but they may spark something in your speech. Edited May 12, 2022 by wintermom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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