Virgil Thomson Quotes

#1. I said to my friends that if I was going to starve, I might as well starve where the food is good.

Virgil Thomson

#2. Verbal communication about music is impossible except among musicians.

Virgil Thomson

#3. I seem to write an opera about every 20 years; if you live long enough you can write four operas. I finished my third in 1970.

Virgil Thomson

#4. I listened to the pure crystalline notes of one of Mozart's concertos dropping at my feet like leaves from the trees.

Virgil Thomson

#5. In Paris, you learn wit, in London you learn to crush your social rivals, and in Florence you learn poise.

Virgil Thomson

#6. I don't have to worry No matter what they do to it, it works.

Virgil Thomson

#7. A libretto that should never have been accepted on a subject that should never have been chosen bya man who should never have attempted it.

Virgil Thomson

#8. Let your mind alone, and see what happens.

Virgil Thomson

#9. 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.

Virgil Thomson

#10. The way to write American music is simple. All you have to do is be an American and then write any kind of music you wish.

Virgil Thomson

#11. I don't care what other critics say, I only hope to be played.

Virgil Thomson

#12. Reviewing music or reviewing anything is a writing job. It's nice if you are experienced in the field you are writing about, but writing is what you are doing.

Virgil Thomson

#13. Musicians own music because music owns them.

Virgil Thomson

#14. I don't go around regretting things that don't happen.

Virgil Thomson

#15. I look at you and I write down what I hear.

Virgil Thomson

#16. I never learned to verbalize an abstract musical concept. No thank you. The whole point of being a serious musician is to avoid verbalization whenever you can.

Virgil Thomson

#17. You explain how it went, and as far as you can figure out how it got that way.

Virgil Thomson

#18. Every composer's music reflects in its subject-matter and in its style the source of the money the composer is living on while writing the music.

Virgil Thomson

#19. 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.

Virgil Thomson