Vladimir Horowitz

Perfection itself is imperfection.

— Vladimir Horowitz

My face is my passport.

— Vladimir Horowitz

The score is not a bible, and I am never afraid to dare. The music is behind those dots.

— Vladimir Horowitz

My future is in my past and my past is my present. I must now make the present my future.

— Vladimir Horowitz

Your mind must control, but you must have heart . . . . Give your feeling free.

— Vladimir Horowitz

I am a general. My soldiers are the keys and I have to command them.

— Vladimir Horowitz

There are three kinds of pianists: Jewish pianists, homosexual pianists, and bad pianists.

— Vladimir Horowitz

I was a terrible student. For me, to take a book home was a trial.

— Vladimir Horowitz

Imitation is a caricature. Any imitation. Find out for yourself.

— Vladimir Horowitz

I loved singing. But can you imagine my voice in an opera house?

— Vladimir Horowitz

I tried playing for the public, and I selected music that I thought would be pleasing to them. Times are different now.…

— Vladimir Horowitz

I have no style, because I change each time . . . each day I play differently. Today I play differently than yesterday.

— Vladimir Horowitz

Played percussively, the piano is a bore. If I go to a concert and someone plays like that I have two choices:…

— Vladimir Horowitz

I may play the same program from one recital to the next, but I will play it differently, and because it is…

— Vladimir Horowitz

Scriabin slept with Chopin under his pillow, and I slept with Wagner under mine. I could not concentrate on memorizing Bach fugues,…

— Vladimir Horowitz

Without false modesty, I feel that, when I'm on the stage, I'm the king, the boss of the situation.

— Vladimir Horowitz

Everyone goes to the forest; some go for a walk to be inspired, and others go to cut down the trees.

— Vladimir Horowitz

As far as practicing is concerned, I usually try to do one to two hours a day. It isn't good to practice…

— Vladimir Horowitz

I studied with Felix Blumenfeld, who had studied piano with Anton Rubinstein and composition with Tchaikovsky. Felix, my professor, was the right…

— Vladimir Horowitz

Always there should be a little mistake here and there - I am for it. The people who don't do mistakes are…

— Vladimir Horowitz

I must tell you I take terrible risks. Because my playing is very clear, when I make a mistake you hear it.…

— Vladimir Horowitz

Piano playing consists of common sense, heart and technical resources. All three should be equally developed. Without common sense you are a…

— Vladimir Horowitz

Life is very busy now. I find that in today's cities, the public is very tired after working the whole day. When…

— Vladimir Horowitz

To be able to produce many varieties of sound, now that is what I call technique, and that is what I try…

— Vladimir Horowitz

For me, the intellect is always the guide but not the goal of the performance. Three things have to be coordinated, and…

— Vladimir Horowitz

Scriabin, as you know, is a mystic composer. His music is supersensuous, superromantic, and supermysterious. Everything is super; it is all a…

— Vladimir Horowitz

The piano is an orchestra with 88… things, you know

— Vladimir Horowitz

You have to open the music, so to speak, and see what's behind the notes because the notes are the same whether…

— Vladimir Horowitz

If you want me to play only the notes without any specific dynamics, I will never make one mistake.

— Vladimir Horowitz

False notes [on the piano] are human. Why does everything have to be perfect? You know, perfection itself is imperfection.

— Vladimir Horowitz

The most important thing is to make a percussive instrument a singing instrument. Teachers should stress this aspect in their instruction, but…

— Vladimir Horowitz

It is important for the musician to learn as much about the composer as possible and to study the music he has…

— Vladimir Horowitz

Behind the notes, something different is told, and that's what the interpreter must find out. He may sit down and play one…

— Vladimir Horowitz