Jeremy Denk Quotes

• Perhaps the most serious complaint you could make about Bach is that he has every quality of humanity except imperfection.

  Jeremy Denk

  Imperfection, Humanity, Quality

  14 Copy quote

• As you deal with thumb-crossings, or fingerings for the F-sharp-minor scale, or chromatic scales in double thirds, it is hard to accept that these will eventually allow you to probe eternity in the final movement of Beethoven's last sonata. Imagine that you are scrubbing the grout in your bathroom and are told that removing every last particle of mildew will somehow enable you to deliver the Gettysburg Address.

  Jeremy Denk

  Finals, Movement, Thumbs

  "Every Good Boy Does Fine" by Jeremy Denk, www.newyorker.com. April 8, 2013.

  46 Copy quote

• The only person who can solve the labyrinth of yourself is You.

  Jeremy Denk

  Labyrinth, Solve, Persons

  "Every Good Boy Does Fine: A life in piano lessons" by Jeremy Denk, www.newyorker.com. April 08, 2013.

  36 Copy quote

• Sometimes you wish you could go back and ask your teachers again to guide you; but up there onstage, exactly where they always wanted you to be, you must simply find your way. They have given all the help they can; the only person who can solve the labyrinth of yourself is you.

  Jeremy Denk

  Teacher, Labyrinth, Wish

  "Every Good Boy Does Fine" by Jeremy Denk, www.newyorker.com. April 8, 2013.

  4 Copy quote

• If there's one thing I feel very strongly about, it's that there shouldn't be a distinction between pianists who play Ligeti and those who play Chopin. It might seem that they involve different skill sets, but I don't think that's true: whether playing Ives or Bach or Beethoven, you must bring the same imagination, the same sensitivity, and an ability to deal with same kinds of musical problems. The method behind my madness, anyway, is to keep plugging away at this idea.

  Jeremy Denk

  Thinking, Play, Skills

  4 Copy quote

• It's no accident that Op. 111 attracts literary attention. Though it's music, it doesn't quite behave like it. It seems to be charged with meaning, to communicate in symbols, ciphers, clues.

  Jeremy Denk

  Attention, Ciphers, Clue

  4 Copy quote

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