[On being asked how it felt to be the first female conductor of the Boston Symphony:] I've been a woman for a little more than fifty years, and I've gotten over my original astonishment. — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share Image
I've been a woman for a little over 50 years and have gotten over my initial astonishment. As for conducting an orchestra, that's a job where I don't think sex plays much part. — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share Image
Nothing is better than music; when it takes us out of time, it has done more for us than we have the right to… — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
A great work of art is made out of a combination of obedience and liberty — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
It is one thing to be gifted and quite another thing to be worthy of one's own gift. — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
As far as the execution is concerned ... the most frequent and most serious mistake is to follow the music instead of preceding it. — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
I adore tradition. I cannot stand habit. Simply to repeat is nothing, also to destroy is nothing. Tradition is never interrupted, we are always… — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
The history of harmony is the history of the development of the human ear, which has gradually assimilated, in their natural order, the successive… — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
In music everything is prolonged, everything is edified, and when the enchantment has ceased, we are still bathed in its clarity; solitude is accompanied… — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
To study music, we must learn the rules. To create music, we must break them. — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
You should never listen to someone practice. That is their work and theirs alone. — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
Great art likes chains. The greatest artists have created art within bounds. Or else they have created their own chains. — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece. — Nadia Boulanger Copy Share
![“[On being asked how it felt to be the first female conductor of the Boston Symphony:] I've been a woman for a little more than fifty years, and I've gotten over my original astonishment.” quote by Nadia Boulanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b56/nadia-boulanger-17786_astonishment_on-being-asked-how-it-felt-to-be-the-fir_1585465.jpg)
