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For me, the most important thing is the element of chance that is built into a live performance. The very great drawback of recorded sound is the fact that it is always the same. No matter how wonderful a recording is, I know that I couldn't live with it--even of my own music--with the same nuances forever.

— Aaron Copland

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More quotes by Aaron Copland

I hope my recordings of my own works won't inhibit other people's performances. The brutal fact is that one doesn't always get the exact tempo one wants, although one improves with experience.

The melody is generally what the piece is about.

So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it.

Music as an Aspect of the Human Spirit (1954)

If you want to know about the Sixties, play the music of The Beatles.

The composer who is frightened of losing his artistic integrity through contact with a mass audience is no longer aware of the meaning of the word art.

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