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📖 "Die Musik ist zugleich ein Produkt der Empfindung und des Wissens; denn sie erheicht von denen, welche sie pflegen - sei es nun ausübend oder schaffend - , nicht minder eine natürliche Begabung und Begeisterung, als eine Kenntnis und Erkenntnis, welche nur durch anhaltendes Studium und erschöpfendes Nachdenken errungen werden können."
Hector Berlioz, in Carl Reinecke's Aus dem Reich der Töne (1907)

📖 "From the depth of sentiment comes the clarity of form and from the strength of the mood comes the spirituality of its atmosphere. This harmony of spirit springs forth from the soul and finds expressions or blossoms forth in the form of music."
Confucius

📖 "Music is a strange thing. I would almost say it is a miracle. For it stands halfway between thought and phenomenon, between spirit and matter, a sort of nebulous mediator, like and unlike each of the things it mediates - spirit that requires manifestation in time, and matter that can do without space."
Heinrich Heine in Letters on the French Stage (1837)

📖 "Einstein said that 'the most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious'. Then why do so many of us try to explain the beauty of music, thus apparently depriving it of its mystery?"
Leonard Bernstein The Unanswered Question (1976)

📖 "I cannot conceive of music that expresses absoutely nothing."
Béla Bartók
Quoted by Machlis Introdution to Contemporary Music (1963)

📖 "Nothing is more odious than music without hidden meaning."
Frédéric Chopin
Quoted in Le Courrier musical (1910)

Books on Music - Read & Learn

Here is a small selection of books and DVDs which could be of interest and some use. Ask for advice on specific topics.

If you are looking for bibliographies or are interested in researching a specific topic or composer the Grove is always a good starting point. The MGG - Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart is the German equivalent. There are of course more authoritative multi-volume music dictionaries in various languages. Do get in touch if you need help for research.

Books For Kids

Books For Parents

Books For Children

ABRSM Composers Audiobooks - First Discovery Series

Opal Wheeler Series

Books in French