Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Quotes

According to my principles, every master has his true and certain value. Praise and criticism cannot change any of that. Only the work itself praises and criticizes the master, and therefore I leave to everyone his own value.

A musician cannot move others unless he too is moved. He must of necessity feel all of the affects that he hopes to arouse in his audience, for the revealing of his own humour will stimulate a like humour in the listener.

What comprises good performance? The ability through singing or playing to make the ear conscious of the true content and affect of a composition.

A musician cannot move others unless he, too, is moved.

I have assigned many of my father's basses to students, without endangering their lives. Also, they do no harm to the fingers.

Keyboardists whose chief asset is mere technique . . . more often than not astound us with their prowess without ever touching our sensibilities. They overwhelm our hearing without satisfying it and stun the mind without moving it.

The new, though engaging at times, may often start as offensive to us. The latter is often proof of the worth of this, while in the long run it will receive more recognition, than some, of what we liked so much in the beginning.