When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. Which of read more

When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?

You know, all my songs are relatives, brothers, sisters, cousins.

You know, all my songs are relatives, brothers, sisters, cousins.

Odds life! must one swear to the truth of a song?

Odds life! must one swear to the truth of a song?

Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.

Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.

Wagner's music is better than it sounds.

Wagner's music is better than it sounds.

Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory.

Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory.

I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to read more

I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality.

Most of the songs I sing have that blues feeling in it. They have that sorry feeling. And I don't read more

Most of the songs I sing have that blues feeling in it. They have that sorry feeling. And I don't know what I'm sorry about. I don't.

When I speak of the gifted listener, I am thinking of the nonmusician primarily, of the listener who intends to read more

When I speak of the gifted listener, I am thinking of the nonmusician primarily, of the listener who intends to retain his amateur status. It is the thought of just such a listener that excites the composer in me.