--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It might be argued that genuine…" description: "\"It might be argued that genuine spontaneity is not really possible or desirable so long as printed scores of great works exist. All modern musicians ar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af9/donal-henahan-37603_desirable_it-might-be-argued-that-genuine-spontane_1433927.jpg" --- # It might be argued that genuine spontaneity is not really… ![“It might be argued that genuine spontaneity is not really possible or desirable so long as printed scores of great works exist. All modern musicians are, for better or worse, prisoners of Gutenberg.” quote by Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af9/donal-henahan-37603_desirable_it-might-be-argued-that-genuine-spontane_1433927.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af9/donal-henahan-37603_desirable_it-might-be-argued-that-genuine-spontane_1433927.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af9/donal-henahan-37603_desirable_it-might-be-argued-that-genuine-spontane_1433927.jpg) > “It might be argued that genuine spontaneity is not really possible or desirable so long as printed scores of great works exist. All modern musicians are, for better or worse, prisoners of Gutenberg.” [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that true spontaneity is impossible when artists are bound by existing works. **In simple terms:** Artists are constrained by tradition. Key Takeaway Embrace originality. Themes creativity tradition artistic freedom Mood reflective serious Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - composing music - writing literature - visual art - film making Key Concepts originality cultural influence Questions to Reflect On - How can artists break free from tradition? - Is total spontaneity realistic? A Different Perspective Innovation can be limited by reverence for past masters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desirable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desirable/) [Genuine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine/) [Genuine Spontaneity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine-spontaneity-5112134/) [Great work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-work/) [Gutenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gutenberg/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Modern Musicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-musicians-5112135/) [Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician/) [Musicians Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musicians-better-1710323/) [Printed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/printed/) [Prisoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoner/) [Score](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/score/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Spontaneity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spontaneity/) [Works Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-exist-5112133/) ## Related quotes > [The point of teaming up with American musicians was that there was no better way than that of music to let people from both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atif-aslam/the-point-of-teaming-up-with-american-musicians-was-that-there-was-no/) [Atif Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atif-aslam/) > [And I think musicians can better run this state than politicians. And, hell, beauticians can better run the state than politicians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kinky-friedman/and-i-think-musicians-can-better-run-this-state-than-politicians-and/) [Kinky Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kinky-friedman/) > [We're better than Metallica. We're better musicians, better players. Put it this way, they can try to walk onstage after an Iron Maiden show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-dickinson/we-re-better-than-metallica-we-re-better-musicians-better-players-put/) [Bruce Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-dickinson/) > [“Musicians have always had a better understanding of love than the rest of us. Over the years they have told us that love: is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cuthbert-soup/musicians-have-always-had-a-better-understanding-of-love-than-the/) [Cuthbert Soup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cuthbert-soup/) > [I definitely learned to communicate with other musicians better. I used to feel so intimidated by guys who can read notes, like, "Oh my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flying-lotus/i-definitely-learned-to-communicate-with-other-musicians-better-i/) [Flying Lotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flying-lotus/) > [I would practice while listening to records or learn from musicians who were better than I was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-springfield/i-would-practice-while-listening-to-records-or-learn-from-musicians/) [Rick Springfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-springfield/) > [I definitely learned to communicate with other musicians better. I used to feel so intimidated by guys who can read notes, like, 'Oh my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flying-lotus/i-definitely-learned-to-communicate-with-other-musicians-better-i-2/) [Flying Lotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flying-lotus/) > [You can read all the textbooks and listen to all the records, but you have to play with musicians that are better than you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-getz/you-can-read-all-the-textbooks-and-listen-to-all-the-records-but-you/) [Stan Getz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-getz/) > [I honestly haven't thought much about what to play and where, perhaps i should...it seems like most musicians are better at that than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/i-honestly-haven-t-thought-much-about-what-to-play-and-where-perhaps/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [The net's future is far from assured, and history offers much warning. Within a few decades of Gutenberg's creation, princes and priests moved to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vint-cerf/the-net-s-future-is-far-from-assured-and-history-offers-much-warning/) [Vint Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vint-cerf/) > [It was stone carvers in ancient Rome, scribes in the Middle Ages, all the way through Gutenberg to the present day. That's a pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/it-was-stone-carvers-in-ancient-rome-scribes-in-the-middle-ages-all/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [The world of visual perspective is one of unified and homogeneous space. Such a world is alien to the resonating diversity of spoken words.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-world-of-visual-perspective-is-one-of-unified-and-homogeneous/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [I wouldn't be surprised if history records Tim Berners-Lee as the second Gutenberg.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bezos/i-wouldn-t-be-surprised-if-history-records-tim-berners-lee-as-the/) [Jeff Bezos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bezos/) > [Writers today must navigate the shifting verbal currents of the post-Gutenberg era. When does jargon end and a new vernacular begin? Where's the line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constance-hale/writers-today-must-navigate-the-shifting-verbal-currents-of-the-post/) [Constance Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constance-hale/) > [“We are in the middle of the biggest revolution in reading and writing since the advent of the Gutenberg press.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/we-are-in-the-middle-of-the-biggest-revolution-in-reading-and-writing/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) ## More by Donal Henahan > [Miss Petrowska,an excellent pianist, held the audience transfixed with Chou Wen-chung’s work. Miss Petrowska was coolness itself in getting the hardware into the piano…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/miss-petrowska-an-excellent-pianist-held-the-audience-transfixed-with/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [The human brain can soften as a result of incessant listening to music with an intent to commit prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/the-human-brain-can-soften-as-a-result-of-incessant-listening-to/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [Real folk music long ago went to Nashville and left no known survivors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/real-folk-music-long-ago-went-to-nashville-and-left-no-known-survivors/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [It will never be mistaken for a high school gymnasium or a meeting room in a Midwestern motel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/it-will-never-be-mistaken-for-a-high-school-gymnasium-or-a-meeting/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [On the subject of wild mushrooms, it is easy to tell who is an expert and who is not: The expert is the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/on-the-subject-of-wild-mushrooms-it-is-easy-to-tell-who-is-an-expert/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [ \[Rubinstein was\] a fountain from which music spouted, not a recitalist. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/rubinstein-was-a-fountain-from-which-music-spouted-not-a-recitalist/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [When her name is mentioned in the opera history books we will recall that vibrant, soaring tone-that and the blinding, high-beam-headlight smile that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/when-her-name-is-mentioned-in-the-opera-history-books-we-will-recall/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [Pianists of extraordinary talent, such as Christina Petrowska,spend a large part of their early lives perfecting technique…Miss Petrowska,a Canadian with a phenomenal ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/pianists-of-extraordinary-talent-such-as-christina-petrowska-spend-a/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [Next to the writer of real estate advertisements, the autobiographer is the most suspect of prose artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/next-to-the-writer-of-real-estate-advertisements-the-autobiographer/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [The irrepressible spirit that made his playing seem like good conversation is the Rubinstein legacy for pianists, if they can pick up their heads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/the-irrepressible-spirit-that-made-his-playing-seem-like-good/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) > [The more disastrous the mishaps the simpler the reviewing task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-henahan/the-more-disastrous-the-mishaps-the-simpler-the-reviewing-task/) [Donal Henahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) [Explore all 12 Donal Henahan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-henahan/) ## More Desirable quotes > [At times of recession, running a budget deficit is highly desirable. Once the economy begins to recover, you have to balance the budget. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/at-times-of-recession-running-a-budget-deficit-is-highly-desirable/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [I'm happy to be considered desirable. I love it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sarandon/i-m-happy-to-be-considered-desirable-i-love-it/) [Susan Sarandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sarandon/) > [It was both necessary and desirable for us to be so strong at sea that no Sea Power could attack us without risk, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-von-bulow/it-was-both-necessary-and-desirable-for-us-to-be-so-strong-at-sea/) [Bernhard von Bulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-von-bulow/) > [Things to be done offer themselves, I suppose, because they are in themselves desirable; not because it is desirable to have something to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/things-to-be-done-offer-themselves-i-suppose-because-they-are-in/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [The goal in raising one's child is to enable him, first, to discover who he wants to be, and then to become a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-bettelheim/the-goal-in-raising-one-s-child-is-to-enable-him-first-to-discover/) [Bruno Bettelheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-bettelheim/) > [“The great thing about facts is that you don't have to ponder whether they're desirable or not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/the-great-thing-about-facts-is-that-you-don-t-have-to-ponder-whether/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [What seems so necessary today may not even be desirable tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/what-seems-so-necessary-today-may-not-even-be-desirable-tomorrow/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I don't just live to work because I don't think that's healthy or desirable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harris-dickinson/i-don-t-just-live-to-work-because-i-don-t-think-that-s-healthy-or/) [Harris Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harris-dickinson/) > [Common sense is both more rare and more desirable in leaders than mere intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/common-sense-is-both-more-rare-and-more-desirable-in-leaders-than/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When the desirable jobs are spending other people's money, reporting on spending other people's money and lobbying to spend other people's money then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-worstall/when-the-desirable-jobs-are-spending-other-people-s-money-reporting/) [Tim Worstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-worstall/) > [Social and cultural change, however desirable, should not be effected by the engines of national power. Let us, through persuasion and education, seek to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/social-and-cultural-change-however-desirable-should-not-be-effected/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [To me the function of politics is to make possible the desirable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/to-me-the-function-of-politics-is-to-make-possible-the-desirable/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/it-is-the-common-calamity-of-old-age-to-lose-whatever-might-have/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself-desirable-love-is-itself/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Rhythm is born in all of us. To be a desirable dancing partner, you don't have to do all the intricate fancy steps that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginger-rogers/rhythm-is-born-in-all-of-us-to-be-a-desirable-dancing-partner-you-don/) [Ginger Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginger-rogers/) [Browse all 509 Desirable quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desirable/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It might be argued that genuine spontaneity is not really possible or desirable so long as printed scores of great works exist. 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