--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once music ceases to be ephemeral…" description: "\"Once music ceases to be ephemeral - always disappearing - and becomes instead material... it leaves the condition of traditional music and enters the c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/brian-eno-776_disappear_once-music-ceases-to-be-ephemeral-always_2922786.jpg" --- # Once music ceases to be ephemeral - always disappearing… ![“Once music ceases to be ephemeral - always disappearing - and becomes instead material... it leaves the condition of traditional music and enters the condition of painting. It becomes a painting, existing as material in space, not immaterial in time.” quote by Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/brian-eno-776_disappear_once-music-ceases-to-be-ephemeral-always_2922786.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/brian-eno-776_disappear_once-music-ceases-to-be-ephemeral-always_2922786.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/brian-eno-776_disappear_once-music-ceases-to-be-ephemeral-always_2922786.jpg) > “Once music ceases to be ephemeral - always disappearing - and becomes instead material... it leaves the condition of traditional music and enters the condition of painting. It becomes a painting, existing as material in space, not immaterial in time.” [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Argues that when music becomes tangible, it shifts from fleeting sound to lasting visual art. **In simple terms:** Music can become material like painting. Key Takeaway Explore music's physical dimensions. Themes art materiality transformation creativity Mood introspective innovative Type theoretical artistic When to use this quote - installation art - sound sculpture - gallery exhibitions Key Concepts aesthetic theory media studies Questions to Reflect On - How does materiality change perception? artWhat new experiences arise? A Different Perspective May blur medium boundaries. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ephemeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ephemeral/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Traditional music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traditional-music/) ## Related quotes > [“Many today insist that music is amoral, that there is nothing innately good or bad about music itself. They say it is neutral, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/many-today-insist-that-music-is-amoral-that-there-is-nothing-innately/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's a very difficult thing to adapt a piece of existing material into film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-knight/it-s-a-very-difficult-thing-to-adapt-a-piece-of-existing-material/) [Travis Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-knight/) > [I'm not inventing anything new, I'm just using existing material differently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shigeru-ban/i-m-not-inventing-anything-new-i-m-just-using-existing-material/) [Shigeru Ban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shigeru-ban/) > [By the mid-'60s, recorded music was much more like painting than it was like traditional music. When you went into the studio, you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/by-the-mid-60s-recorded-music-was-much-more-like-painting-than-it-was/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [In the 1960s when the recording studio suddenly really took off as a tool, it was the kids from art school who knew how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/in-the-1960s-when-the-recording-studio-suddenly-really-took-off-as-a/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [The music that I play and that I like is traditional music, maybe it's because of my age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/compay-segundo/the-music-that-i-play-and-that-i-like-is-traditional-music-maybe-it-s/) [Compay Segundo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/compay-segundo/) > [First, it doesn't surprise me that traditional music has experienced a kind of exhaustion in the 20th century - not forgetting that many musicians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-schaeffer/first-it-doesn-t-surprise-me-that-traditional-music-has-experienced-a/) [Pierre Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-schaeffer/) > [Here it is: our collaboration with Project Spark . Instead of a traditional music video for GUILTY ALL THE SAME (feat. Rakim), we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe/here-it-is-our-collaboration-with-project-spark-instead-of-a/) [Joe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe/) > [I submitted videos and applications to talent agencies and TV shows; I drove to Vegas and visited agents. I was on 'America's Got Talent';…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-stirling/i-submitted-videos-and-applications-to-talent-agencies-and-tv-shows-i/) [Lindsey Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-stirling/) > [Mine is not a traditional music, but it comes from a tradition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-chapin/mine-is-not-a-traditional-music-but-it-comes-from-a-tradition/) [Tom Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-chapin/) > [“If I had to choose one spot to enjoy the small-town charm of traditional Ireland, it would be Dingle and its history-laden scenic peninsula.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-steves/if-i-had-to-choose-one-spot-to-enjoy-the-small-town-charm-of/) [Rick Steves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-steves/) > [Once you're in a particular country, and you're surrounded by musicians who are so adept at traditional music, you suddenly realize how much there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-glennie/once-you-re-in-a-particular-country-and-you-re-surrounded-by/) [Evelyn Glennie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-glennie/) > [“banjo. A plucked, fretted lute where a thin skin diaphragm is stretched over a circular metal frame amplifying the sound of the strings. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-doherty/banjo-a-plucked-fretted-lute-where-a-thin-skin-diaphragm-is-stretched/) Liz Doherty > [I loved traditional musical comedy. That was my passion. Then 'Spring Awakening' happened, and it took that rock n' roll and pop music to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-groff/i-loved-traditional-musical-comedy-that-was-my-passion-then-spring/) [Jonathan Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-groff/) > [ Just like there's a hole in the ozone layer, there's a hole in the musical ecological layer \[wrt lack of successful "conscious" music\]... 'Traditional'… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-reid/just-like-there-s-a-hole-in-the-ozone-layer-there-s-a-hole-in-the/) [Vernon Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-reid/) ## More by Brian Eno > [I have lived in countries that were coming out of conflict: Ireland, South Africa, the Czech republic. People there are overflowing with energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-have-lived-in-countries-that-were-coming-out-of-conflict-ireland/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [The lyrics are constructed as empirically as the music. I don't set out to say anything very important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/the-lyrics-are-constructed-as-empirically-as-the-music-i-don-t-set/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Admirers can be a tremendous force for conservatism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/admirers-can-be-a-tremendous-force-for-conservatism/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [The whole history of pop music had rested on the first person singular, with occasional intrusions of the second person singular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/the-whole-history-of-pop-music-had-rested-on-the-first-person/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [You can't really imagine music without technology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/you-can-t-really-imagine-music-without-technology/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Robert Fripp and I will be recording another LP very soon. It should be even more monotonous than the first one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/robert-fripp-and-i-will-be-recording-another-lp-very-soon-it-should/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I despise computers in many ways. I think they’re hopelessly underevolved and overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-despise-computers-in-many-ways-i-think-they-re-hopelessly/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I think very often producers are really trying to repeat things. When they hear something in the new songs that they recognize as being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-think-very-often-producers-are-really-trying-to-repeat-things-when/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I think that's very significant that we're so attached to the idea now of - it was something I advocated for years, that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-think-that-s-very-significant-that-we-re-so-attached-to-the-idea/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [If you watch any good player, they're using different parts of their body and working with instruments that respond to those movements. They're moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/if-you-watch-any-good-player-they-re-using-different-parts-of-their/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Songs that don't depend on composition depend instead on performance - so the fire has to be there in the playing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/songs-that-don-t-depend-on-composition-depend-instead-on-performance/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I can see the use and value of religion, just as I can see the use of mud wrestling, yoga, astronomy and sadomasochism. but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-can-see-the-use-and-value-of-religion-just-as-i-can-see-the-use-of/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I wanted to get rid of the element that had been considered essential in pop music: the voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-wanted-to-get-rid-of-the-element-that-had-been-considered-essential/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [At the beginning of the 20th century, the ambition of the great painters was to make paintings that were like music, which was then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/at-the-beginning-of-the-20th-century-the-ambition-of-the-great/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I had an interesting day. I was in the studio with a group of musicians, who shall remain nameless, and I said to them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-had-an-interesting-day-i-was-in-the-studio-with-a-group-of/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) [Explore all 373 Brian Eno quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) ## More Disappear quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I'm at the edge of the world, Where do I go from here? Do I disappear? Edge of the world, Should I sink or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bring-me-the-horizon/i-m-at-the-edge-of-the-world-where-do-i-go-from-here-do-i-disappear/) [Bring Me The Horizon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bring-me-the-horizon/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Pain results from a judgment you have made about a thing. Remove the judgment and the pain disappears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/pain-results-from-a-judgment-you-have-made-about-a-thing-remove-the/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“I am disappearing, maybe I'm already gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-niven/i-am-disappearing-maybe-i-m-already-gone/) [Jennifer Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-niven/) > [“Must a people disappear for us to know they exist? Mano Dayak”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mano-dayak/must-a-people-disappear-for-us-to-know-they-exist-mano-dayak/) Mano Dayak > [When I step into the batters box. The fans, the noise, the cheers, they all disappear. For that moment, the world is just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/when-i-step-into-the-batters-box-the-fans-the-noise-the-cheers-they/) [Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/although-i-don-t-have-anything-against-people-from-other-countries/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't like magic - but I have been known to make guys disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mr-t/i-don-t-like-magic-but-i-have-been-known-to-make-guys-disappear/) [Mr. T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mr-t/) > [It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate-the-value-of-true-humility/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The pace of global warming is accelerating and the scale of the impact is devastating. The time for action is limited - we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-pace-of-global-warming-is-accelerating-and-the-scale-of-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [I definitely have a different perspective on music in general. But once I actually have a guitar in my hands, I think I disappear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-orcutt/i-definitely-have-a-different-perspective-on-music-in-general-but/) [Bill Orcutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-orcutt/) Browse all 2,209 Disappear quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once music ceases to be ephemeral - always disappearing - and becomes instead material... it leaves the condition of traditional music and enters the condition of painting. 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