Quotations

"A rich silence that sternly resisted any spoken sounds. In such moments-rare in one's experience-art withers if there is any attempt to embellish it with speech. This almost turbulent silence was dizzying. What kind of excitement is this? Words by Pierre Reverdy came to mind: Only silence flows into the stream of eternal time.

The fear of silence is nothing new. Silence surrounds the dark world of death. Sometimes the silence of the vast universe hovers over us, enveloping us. There is the intense silence of birth, the quiet silence of one's return to the earth...

Confronting silence by uttering a sound is nothing but verifying one's own existence. It is only that singling out of one's self from the cavern of silence that can really be called "singing." That is the only "truth" that should concern artists, otherwise we will never really face the question of art's reality. It is in silence that the artist singles out the truth to sing or sketch. And it is then that he realizes his truth exists prior to everything. This is the love of art, and at the same time is something that could be called "the world". These days too many arts have left the meaning of silence behind."

                                                Confronting Silence,   Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996)    

"Varied motives lie at the source of artistic creation. Among the more common or quite shallow is the artist's wish to attract attention, to become popular, to earn money and the like...In my work, I am mainly motivated by the wish to give as faithful evidence as possible to the world existing within me and continually developing, and render it 'material'. This is combined with my passion for the entire world of music: mysterious, independent and yet most closely connected with man and the human condition.

Is my attitude purely introvert? Am I only concerned with what is going on within me and nothing else? Certainly not. I feel an ardent wish to communicate with people through art all the time. Yet I do not exert myself to win over as many listeners and advocates as possible. I do not want to win people over, I want to find those who, in the depth of their heart, feel the way I do. How can this goal be achieved? Through the utmost sincerity of artistic expression at all levels, from technical details to the most secret and intimate depths. I am aware that an attitude like this eliminates a large number of potential listeners of my works straight away. Yet those who will stay are an invaluable treasure. They are people dear to me though I never met them.

Artistic creation may be thus viewed as a hunt for human souls resulting in a cure for the most acute of human sufferings, a sense of loneliness."

                                                Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)

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