Pierre Schaeffer Quotes

• Sound is the vocabulary of nature.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Vocabulary, Sound, Corny

  "Interview with the Pioneer of Musique Concrete". Records Quarterly magazine, vol. 2, n° 1, 1987.

  48 Copy quote

• The only hope is that our civilization will collapse at a certain point, as always happens in history. Then, out of barbarity, a renaissance.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Civilization, Renaissance, Certain

  45 Copy quote

• Sound is the vocabulary of nature... noises are as well articulated as the words in a dictionary... Opposing the world of sound is the world of music.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Vocabulary, Sound, World

  Interview with the Pioneer of Musique Concrete, vol. 2, n° 1, 1987.

  11 Copy quote

• People who try to create a musical revolution do not have a chance, but those who turn their back to music can sometimes find it.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  People, Musical, Trying

  Electronic Musician magazine, December 1986.

  10 Copy quote

• Something new has been added, a new art of sound. Am I wrong in calling it music?

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Art, Sound, Calling

  "The Liberation of Sound: An Introduction to Electronic Music". Book by Herbert Russcol, 1972.

  12 Copy quote

• The moment at which music reveals its true nature is contained in the ancient exercise of the theme with variations. The complete mystery of music is explained right there.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Exercise, Variation, Mystery

  7 Copy quote

• Noises have generally been thought of as indistinct, but this is not true.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Noise

  7 Copy quote

• I was horrified by modern 12-tone music. I said to myself, 'Maybe I can find something different... maybe salvation, liberation, is possible.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Different, Tone, Modern

  Interview with the Pioneer of Musique Concrete, vol. 2, n° 1, 1987.

  7 Copy quote

• First, it doesn't surprise me that traditional music has experienced a kind of exhaustion in the 20th century - not forgetting that many musicians started to look outside the traditional structures of tonality.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Firsts, Musician, Looks

  7 Copy quote

• It's ridiculous that time and time again we need a radioactive cloud coming out of a nuclear power-station to remind us that atomic energy is extraordinarily dangerous.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Clouds, Energy, Needs

  69 Copy quote

• The world changes materially. Science makes advances in technology and understanding. But the world of humanity doesn't change.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Technology, Understanding, Humanity

  6 Copy quote

• Has it struck you that the music which is regarded as the most sublime in western civilization, which is the music of Bach, is called baroque?

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Civilization, Sublime, Baroque Music

  27 Copy quote

• Barbarians always think of themselves as the bringers of civilization.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Thinking, Civilization, Barbarians

  "Pierre Schaeffer: an Interview with the Pioneer of Musique Concrete". Records Quarterly magazine, vol. 2, n° 1, 1987.

  8 Copy quote

• I do not want to heap coals of fire on anyone's head, but I would like to advise those who keep the living thought of the dead hidden away in cardboard boxes, to pass on as quickly as possibly such explosive material, whose only legitimate heir is the whole world, that is to say, my neighbor.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Fire, Coal, World

  "The Old Man and His Movements" by Pierre Schaeffer, 1964.

  4 Copy quote

• I'm very aware of what you're talking about as I was involved with the radio in Africa in the same period as I was doing Concrete - I was doing both at the same time.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  Talking, Radio, Periods

  7 Copy quote

• People who share the same language, French or Chinese or whatever, have the same vocal cords and emit sounds which are basically the same, as they come from the same throats and lungs.

  Pierre Schaeffer

  People, Chinese, Sound

  8 Copy quote

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