Ned Rorem Music Quotations

The hardest of all the arts to speak of is music, because music has no meaning to speak of

The twelve-toners behave as if music should be seen and not heard

If music could be translated into human speech, it would no longer need to exist.

Why, after all, must everyone like music? That they are missing something is just the lover's opinion.

Love is a mystery which, when solved, evaporates. The same holds for music.

If you read reviews of concerts, the word 'creative' comes up all the time. However, performers playing music usually aren't creative. Critics might say they are, but they're just playing another persons work. They didn't create it.