Dorling Kindersley - The Classical Music Book

Psalmody is the weapon of the monk
Plainchant, Anonymous

Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la
Micrologus, Guido DArezzo

We should sing psalms on a ten-string psaltery
Ordo Virtutum, Hildegard of Bingen

To sing is to pray twice
Magnus liber organi, Lonin

Tandaradei, sweetly sang the nightingale
Le Jeu de Robin et de Marion, Adam de la Halle

Music is a science that makes you laugh, sing, and dance
Messe de Notre Dame, Guillaume de Machaut

Not a single piece of music composed before the last 40 years is worth hearing
Missa Lhomme arm, Guillaume Dufay

Tongue, proclaim the mystery of the glorious body
Missa Pange lingua, Josquin Desprez

Hear the voyce and prayer
Spem in alium, Thomas Tallis

The eternal father of Italian music
Canticum Canticorum, Giovanni da Palestrina

That is the nature of hymnsthey make us want to repeat them
Great Service, William Byrd

All the airs and madrigals whisper softness
O Care, Thou Wilt Despatch Me, Thomas Weelkes

This feast did even ravish and stupefie all those strangers that never heard the like
Sonata pian e forte, Giovanni Gabrieli

My lute, awake!
Lachrimae, John Dowland

One of the most magnificent and expensefull diversions
Euridice, Jacopo Peri

Music must move the whole man
Vespers, Claudio Monteverdi

Lully merits with good reason the title of prince of French musicians
Le bourgeois gentilhomme, Jean-Baptiste Lully

He had a peculiar genius to express the energy of English words
Dido and Aeneas, Henry Purcell

The object of churches is not the bawling of choristers
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, Dieterich Buxtehude

The new Orpheus of our times
Concerti grossi, Op. 6, Arcangelo Corelli

The uniting of the French and Italian styles must create the perfection of music
Pices de clavecin, Franois Couperin

What the English like is something they can beat time to
Water Music, George Frideric Handel

Do not expect any profound intention, but rather an ingenious jesting with art
Sonata in D minor, K. 9 Pastorale,
Domenico Scarlatti

Spring has come, and with it gaiety
The Four Seasons, Antonio Vivaldi

The end and final aim of all music should be none other than the glory of God
St. Matthew Passion, Johann Sebastian Bach

Telemann is above all praise
Musique de table, Georg Philipp Telemann

His whole heart and soul were in his harpsichord
Hippolyte et Aricie, Jean-Philippe Rameau

Bach is like an astronomer, who finds the most wonderful stars
The Art of Fugue, Johann Sebastian Bach

Its forte is like thunder, its crescendo a cataract
Symphony in E-flat major, Op. 11, No. 3, Johann Stamitz

The most moving act in all of opera
Orfeo ed Euridice, Christoph Willibald Gluck

We must play from the soul, not like trained birds
Flute Concerto in A major, WQ 168, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

I was forced to become original
String Quartet in C major, Op. 54, No. 2, Hoboken III:57, Joseph Haydn

The most tremendous genius raised Mozart above all masters
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The object of the piano is to substitute one performer for a whole orchestra
Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 25, No. 5, Muzio Clementi

We walk, by the power of music, in joy through deaths dark night
The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I live only in my notes
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Eroica, Op. 55, Ludwig van Beethoven

The violinist is that peculiarly human phenomenon half tiger, half poet
24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1, Niccol Paganini

Give me a laundry list, and I will set it to music
The Barber of Seville, Gioachino Rossini

Music is truly love itself
Der Freischtz, Carl Maria von Weber

No one feels anothers grief, no one understands anothers joy
Die schne Mllerin, Franz Schubert

Music is like a dream. One that I cannot hear
String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131, Ludwig van Beethoven

Instrumentation is at the head of the march
Symphonie fantastique, Hector Berlioz

Simplicity is the final achievement
Prludes, Frdric Chopin

My symphonies would have reached Opus 100 if I had written them down
Symphony No. 1 (The Spring Symphony), Robert Schumann

The last note was drowned in a unanimous volley of plaudits
Elijah, Felix Mendelssohn

I love Italian operaits so reckless
La traviata, Giuseppe Verdi

Who holds the devil, let him hold him well
Faust Symphony, Franz Liszt

And the dancers whirl around gaily in the waltzs giddy mazes
The Blue Danube, Johann Strauss II

I live in music like a fish in water
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Camille Saint-Sans

Opera must make people weep, feel horrified, die
The Ring Cycle, Richard Wagner

He comes as if sent straight from God
Symphony No. 1, Johannes Brahms

The notes dance up there on the stage
The Nutcracker, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything
Also sprach Zarathustra, Richard Strauss

Emotional art is a kind of illness
Tosca, Giacomo Puccini

If a composer could say what he had to say in words, he would not bother saying it in music
Das Lied von der Erde, Gustav Mahler

My fatherland means more to me than anything else
The Bartered Bride, Bedich Smetana

Mussorgsky typifies the genius of Russia