Quote

It has to be able to play at the maximum expression and communication in every style, and the only way you can do that is - like Verdi said - working with a file, every day, little by little, until the orchestra's collective qualities emerge.

— James Levine

Sentiment: NEGATIVE

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✓Similar Perspectives

Why write for the orchestra? For one thing it's a very challenging problem.

— Elliott Carter

I think this orchestra's strengths involve drama and voice.

— James Levine

When I first wrote for orchestra, I didn't realize, when you have 20 people playing a violin line, that is very different than one person playing that line.

— David Del Tredici

You have to change your mind with every orchestra because every orchestra has a different character.

— Kurt Masur

I love working with an orchestra, but there are many ways to make music.

— Howard Shore

You hear the same work by different orchestras, different conductors, violinists, pianists, singers, and slowly, the work reveals itself and begins to live deeper in you.

— David Ogden Stiers

Is it not the business of the conductor to convey to the public in its dramatic form the central idea of a composition; and how can he convey that idea successfully if he does not enter heart and soul into the life of the music and the tale it unfolds?

— John Philip Sousa

I currently spend a lot of time thinking about orchestration and every detail of a piece.

— Gavin Bryars

There's not an orchestra in the world that doesn't have weaknesses. None of us can play everything well. The repertoire is just too big.

— Leonard Slatkin

✗Opposing Perspectives

I'm not interested in having an orchestra sound like itself. I want it to sound like the composer.

— Leonard Bernstein