Quotes from Richard Strauss

The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play.

Bear in mind that you are not making music for your own pleasure, but for the pleasure of your audience.

I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.

I want to be able to depict in music a glass of beer so accurately that every listener can tell whether it is a Pilsner or a Kulmbacher.

Never look encouragingly at the brass, except with a brief glance to give an important cue.

I shall never be converted, and I shall remain true to my old religion of the classics until my life's end.

I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.

Die menschliche Stimme ist das schönste Instrument, aber es ist am schwierigsten zu spielen.

I shall never be converted, and I shall remain true to my old religion of the classics until my life's end.

Never look encouragingly at the brass, except with a short glance to give an important cue.

Never let the horns and woodwinds out of your sight; if you can hear them at all, they are too loud.