Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomsonwas an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassicist, and a composer of "an Olympian blend of humanity and detachment" whose "expressive voice was always carefully muted" until his late opera Lord Byron which, in contrast to all his previous work, exhibited an emotional content that rises to "moments of real passion"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionComposer
Date of Birth25 November 1896
CityKansas City, MO
CountryUnited States of America
I thought of myself as a species of knight errant attacking dragons single-handedly and rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Try a thing you haven't tried before three times - once to get over the fear, once to find out how to do it, and a third time to find out whether you like it or not
Falsely conceived and rather clumsily executed crooked folklore and halfway opera.
I don't have to worry No matter what they do to it, it works.
I look at you and I write down what I hear.
I've never known a musician who regretted being one. Whatever deceptions life may have in store for you, music itself is not going to let you down.
They look better than we do; they can wear all colors on stage. We're sort of oyster-colored.
I let her alone and when she got that finished she left me alone. We trusted each other.
Whatever deceptions life may have in store for you, music itself is not going to let you down.
You explain how it went, and as far as you can figure out how it got that way.
I don't go around regretting things that don't happen.
Verbal communication about music is impossible except among musicians.
Musicians own music because music owns them.
The description and explanation is the best part of music reviewing. There is such a thing, and you know it too, as a gift for judgment. If you have it, you can say anything you like. If you haven't got it, you don't know you haven't got it.