Gustav Mahler Quotes
A late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation.
(1860 - 1911)
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A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.
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All that is not perfect down to the smallest detail is doomed to perish.
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An operetta is simply a small and gay opera.
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Beauty and fullness of tone can be achieved by having the whole orchestra play with high clarinets and a carefully selected number of piccolos.
[Beauty]
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Behind me the branches of a wasted and sterile existence are cracking.
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Destiny smiles upon me but without making me the least bit happier.
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Don't bother looking at the view - I have already composed it.
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Even if people censure me, they should do so hat in hand.
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Fortunately, something always remains to be harvested. So let us not be idle.
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I also had a brother who was like me a musician and a composer. A man of great talent, far more gifted than I. He died very young... he killed himself in the prime of his life.
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I am hitting my head against the walls, but the walls are giving way.
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I beg of you... never assume an inner or an outer pose, never a disguise.
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I don't let myself get carried away by my own ideas - I abandon 19 out of 20 of them every day.
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I have become a different person. I don't know whether this person is better, he certainly is not happier.
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I hope you will no longer accuse me of a lack of delicacy. as I now count on your understanding.
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I live like a Hottentot. I cannot exchange one sensible word with anyone.
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I was a crazy young man who let himself be blinded by his passions and obeyed only the impulses of the moment.
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If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.
[Music]
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If I weren't the way I am, I shouldn't write my symphonies.
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