#comp

For in this century, within the next decades, will be decided for generations whether all mankind is to become Communist, whether the whole world is to become free, or whether, in the struggle, civilization as we know it is to be completely destroyed or completely changed. ↗

— Whittaker Chambers

#century #changed #civilization #communist #completely

When I left Europe in 1987 I did so with the thought that my relevance as a composition teacher would benefit from a certain cool distance to certain tendencies I had been observing for several years with increasing disquiet. ↗

— Brian Ferneyhough

#benefit #certain #composition #cool #did

Actually, most things I say in public lead more or less directly to my own compositional practice, so I should be careful about generalizing lest they come back to haunt me. ↗

— Brian Ferneyhough

#actually #back #be careful #careful #come

Composers dialogue - and obsessively, bitterly argue - with other composers, often over the span of several centuries. ↗

— Brian Ferneyhough

#bitterly #centuries #composers #dialogue #obsessively

I frequently compose out the entire metric structure of a piece in modified cyclic form, where each cyclic revolution undergoes some form of 'variation' much as if measure lengths were concrete musical 'material.' ↗

— Brian Ferneyhough

#concrete #cyclic #each #entire #form

It is still true that it is easier to compose a poem in the form of a manual for adjusting a VCR than it is to write a piece using just tuning as a symphony. ↗

— Brian Ferneyhough

#compose #easier #form #just #manual

Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses, and of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform. ↗

— Chanakya

#desires #divine #heart #mind #needed

The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability. ↗

— Chanakya

#accomplish #due #his #knowledge #like

Other composers have taken this particular technique much further than I in the meantime, with the result that the Law of Diminishing Returns has begun to apply. ↗

— Brian Ferneyhough

#begun #composers #diminishing #further #i

The Western musical canon came about not merely by accumulation, but by opposition and subversion, both to the ruling powers on whom composers depended for their livelihoods and to other musics. ↗

— Brian Ferneyhough

#both #came #canon #composers #depended