Quotes from Solomon Volkov

O título [da peça Vladimir Maiakóvski, do autor de mesmo nome] escondia uma revelação brilhantemente simples, a de que o poeta não é o autor, mas o objeto da poesia lírica, dirigindo-se ao mundo na primeira pessoa. O título designava não o autor, mas o conteúdo. Boris Pasternak

It was clear that the composer no longer consoled himself with the thought that music could express everything and did not require verbal commentary.

Young Shostakovich-Mitya-was nine, relatively old, when he began piano lessons. His first instructor was his mother, who, when she saw his rapid progress, took him to a piano teacher. The following conversation was a favorite family story: I've brought you a marvelous pupil! All mothers have marvelous children.... Within two years he played all the preludes and fugues in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. It was clear that he was exceptionally gifted.