“The British may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes.”
“A musicologist is a man who can read music but can’t hear it.”
“Brass bands are all very well in their place – outdoors and several miles away.”
“If an opera cannot be played by an organ grinder, it’s not going to achieve immortality.”
“Her singing reminds me of a cart coming downhill with the brake on.”
“There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn’t give a damn what goes on in between.”
“Composers and musicians have always starved and, as this is a sentimental country, we think the tradition should be continued.”
“Beethoven’s last quartets were written by a deaf man and should only be listened to by a deaf man.”
On Beethoven’s 7th: “What can you do with it? It’s like a lot of yaks jumping about.”
On the harpsichord: “…like two skeletons copulating on a tin roof.”
On the cello: “Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands, and all you can do is scratch it.”
Happy birthday, Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961)
More about Beecham here:
https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,3605,468909,00.html
Beecham conducts Delius:
Beecham conducts Berlioz:
Beecham conducts Schubert:
Beecham conducts Liszt:
Beecham conducts Balakirev:
Beecham conducts Handel (as arranged by Beecham):
Beecham conducts Sibelius: