"The aim and final end of all music should be none other than
the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul."
“It's easy to play any musical instrument:
all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time
and the instrument will play itself.”
“If I decide to be an idiot, then I'll be an idiot on my own accord.”
“Where there is devotional music,
God is always at hand with His gracious presence.”
“I was obliged to be industrious.
Whoever is equally industrious will succeed . . . equally well.”
“I have always kept one end in view, namely, with all good will
to conduct a well-regulated church music to the honor of God.”
“My masters are strange folk with very little care for music in them.”
QUOTES BY OTHERS ABOUT BACH:
"The immortal god of harmony."
Ludwig van Beethoven, 1801
"Study Bach: there you will find everything."
Johannes Brahms
"And if we look at the works of J.S. Bach —
a benevolant god to which all musicians should offer a prayer
to defend themselves against mediocrity —
on each page we discover things which we thought were born only yesterday,
from delightful arabesques to an overflowing of religious feeling
greater than anything we have since discovered.
And in his works we will search in vain for anything the least lacking in good taste."
Claude Debussy
"Music owes as much to Bach as religion to its founder."
Robert Schumann
"Playing and studying Bach convinces us that we are all numskulls."
Robert Schumann
"Bach is the beginning and end of all music."
Max Reger
