Yet half the beast is the great god Pan,
To laugh, as he sits by the river,
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Yet half the beast is the great god Pan,
To laugh, as he sits by the river,
Making a poet out of a man.
The true gods sigh for the cost and the pain--
For the reed that grows never more again
As a reed with the reeds of the river.

The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, 'Is there a meaning to music?' My answer would be, read more

The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, 'Is there a meaning to music?' My answer would be, 'Yes.' And 'Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?" My answer to that would be, 'No.'

And sure there is music even in the beauty, and the silent note
which Cupid strikes, far sweeter than read more

And sure there is music even in the beauty, and the silent note
which Cupid strikes, far sweeter than the sound of an instrument;
for there is music wherever there is harmony, order, or
proportion; and thus far we may maintain the music of the
spheres.

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.

Music - The one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.

Music - The one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.

Giving jazz the Congressional seal of approval is a little like making Huck Finn an honorary Boy Scout.

Giving jazz the Congressional seal of approval is a little like making Huck Finn an honorary Boy Scout.

Music is a higher revelation than philosophy.

Music is a higher revelation than philosophy.

It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain: read more

It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature, and everlasting beauty of monotony.

Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.

Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.