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I do not mean to say that it is necessary to imitate the mathematical regularity of the metronome, which would give the music thus executed an icy frigidity; I even doubt whether it would be possible to maintain this rigid uniformity for more than a few bars.

— Hector Berlioz A Treatise Upon Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration (1858)

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More quotes by Hector Berlioz

Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.

The author of The Prophet not only has the good luck to have talent, he has also the talent to have good luck.

Les soirées de l'orchestre (1852)

Instrumentation is to music precisely what color is to painting.

A travers chants (1862)

You request me to tell you…if it is true that the creed of all who profess to love high and serious art is: "There is no God but Bach, and Mendelssohn is his prophet"?

Mémoires (1870)

This sudden and unexpected revelation of Shakespeare overwhelmed me. The lightning-flash of his genius revealed the whole heaven of art to me, illuminating its remotest depths in a single flash. I recognised the meaning of real grandeur, real beauty, and the real dramatic truth.

Mémoires (1870)

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