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The music that of common speech
but slanted so that each detail
sounds unexpected as a sharp
inserted in a simple scale.

— Dana Gioia The Gods of Winter (1991)

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Music

More quotes by Dana Gioia

To speak from a particular place and time is not provincialism but part of a writer’s identity.

Being a California Poet (1999)

Old empires always appeal to modern poets more than new ones.

In America, the term younger poet is applied with chivalric liberality. It can be used to describe anyone not yet collecting a Social Security pension.

Being so deeply rooted in one place and culture allows a genuine writer to experiment wildly with the material without ever losing touch with its essence.

"If the soul of Roman Catholicism is to be found in partisan politics, then it's probably time to shutter up the chapel" (24).

The Catholic Writer Today (2013)

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The emphasis of study upon a particular aspect of music is in itself ideological because it contains implications about the music's value.

Lucy Green

Music is well said to be the speech of angels.

Thomas Carlyle Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827)

Music has no subject beyond the combinations of notes we hear, for music speaks not only by means of sounds, it speaks nothing but sound.

Eduard Hanslick

Above the pitch, out of tune, and off the hinges.

François Rabelais Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Dana Gioia (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.