--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is best in music is not to be found…" description: "\"What is best in music is not to be found in the notes.\" — Gustav Mahler" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/gustav-mahler-9935_best_what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found_3159291.jpg" --- # What is best in music is not to be found in the notes. ![“What is best in music is not to be found in the notes.” quote by Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/gustav-mahler-9935_best_what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found_3159291.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/gustav-mahler-9935_best_what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found_3159291.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/gustav-mahler-9935_best_what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found_3159291.jpg) > “What is best in music is not to be found in the notes.” [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The best qualities of music lie beyond the written notes, in emotion and interpretation. **In simple terms:** Music’s true value is felt, not just written. Key Takeaway Listen for feeling beyond the score. Themes music emotion interpretation Mood reflective contemplative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - concert listening - music education - composition - personal reflection Key Concepts aesthetic experience subjective perception Questions to Reflect On - What emotions do you hear in a piece? - How do you interpret silence? A Different Perspective Technical focus can miss deeper emotional impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [There's something mathematically satisfying about music: notes fit together and harmony and all that. And mathematics has to do with abstractions and making connections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-lehrer/there-s-something-mathematically-satisfying-about-music-notes-fit/) [Tom Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-lehrer/) > [The marks on our lives are like music notes on the page--they sing a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mccoy/the-marks-on-our-lives-are-like-music-notes-on-the-page-they-sing-a/) [Sarah McCoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mccoy/) > [“Music is not in the notes but in what is between them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-leya/music-is-not-in-the-notes-but-in-what-is-between-them/) [Ella Leya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-leya/) > [The most important thing in music is what is not in the notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-casals/the-most-important-thing-in-music-is-what-is-not-in-the-notes/) [Pablo Casals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-casals/) > [“The songs we sing to each other are statements. An ongoing discussion in music notes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasinda-wilder/the-songs-we-sing-to-each-other-are-statements-an-ongoing-discussion/) [Jasinda Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasinda-wilder/) > [You can't speak Music with notes alone, but you can speak Music without notes at all!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-t-speak-music-with-notes-alone-but-you-can-speak-music/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-music-is-not-in-the-notes-but-in-the-silence-between/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [To him the stars seemed like so many musical notes affixed to the sky, just waiting for somebody to unfasten them. Someday the sky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/machado-de-assis/to-him-the-stars-seemed-like-so-many-musical-notes-affixed-to-the-sky/) [Machado de Assis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/machado-de-assis/) > [The beauty of string theory is the metaphor kind of really comes very close to the reality. The strings of string theory are vibrating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/the-beauty-of-string-theory-is-the-metaphor-kind-of-really-comes-very/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [I didn't think of myself as a singer. I'm an actor who recites words, and sometimes that happens to be on musical notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-patinkin/i-didn-t-think-of-myself-as-a-singer-i-m-an-actor-who-recites-words/) [Mandy Patinkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-patinkin/) > [Hour of Stars (1920) The round silence of night, one note on the stave of the infinite. Ripe with lost poems, I step naked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-garc-a-lorca/hour-of-stars-1920-the-round-silence-of-night-one-note-on-the-stave/) [Federico Garcia Lorca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-garc-a-lorca/) > [You have to be ready, and also you have to discard notions that are fondly held by a lot of musicians, about sequences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-garcia/you-have-to-be-ready-and-also-you-have-to-discard-notions-that-are/) [Jerry Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-garcia/) > [There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/there-are-not-more-than-five-musical-notes-yet-the-combinations-of/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [The present, like a note in music, is nothing but as it appertains to what is past and what is to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-present-like-a-note-in-music-is-nothing-but-as-it-appertains-to/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [Peter Townsend Music is the silence between the notes.. So could it be said that dance is the stillness between the steps?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-debussy/peter-townsend-music-is-the-silence-between-the-notes-so-could-it-be/) [Claude Debussy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-debussy/) ## More by Gustav Mahler > [It is always the same with me; only when I experience something do I compose, and only when composing do I experience! After all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/it-is-always-the-same-with-me-only-when-i-experience-something-do-i/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [God can only be comprehended as Love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/god-can-only-be-comprehended-as-love/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [All that is not perfect down to the smallest detail is doomed to perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/all-that-is-not-perfect-down-to-the-smallest-detail-is-doomed-to/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [A true personality . . . is like a robust organism that, with unconscious sureness, seeks out and digests the nourishment appropriate to it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/a-true-personality-is-like-a-robust-organism-that-with-unconscious/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [My time will come, that is: after the finish of the recurring song cycles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/my-time-will-come-that-is-after-the-finish-of-the-recurring-song/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [Only when I experience do I compose - only when I compose do I experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/only-when-i-experience-do-i-compose-only-when-i-compose-do-i/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [I am thrice homeless, as a bohemian, as an Austrian, and all over the world, you guessed it right I am Jewish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/i-am-thrice-homeless-as-a-bohemian-as-an-austrian-and-all-over-the/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [I am thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world. Everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/i-am-thrice-homeless-as-a-native-of-bohemia-in-austria-as-an-austrian/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [It should be one’s sole endeavor to see everything afresh and create it anew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/it-should-be-one-s-sole-endeavor-to-see-everything-afresh-and-create/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [It is easier to achieve a desired result in short pieces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/it-is-easier-to-achieve-a-desired-result-in-short-pieces/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [For the last month I have been a strict vegetarian. The moral effects of this regime are immense, owing to the voluntary subjugation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/for-the-last-month-i-have-been-a-strict-vegetarian-the-moral-effects/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [Both my marriages were failures! Number one departed, and number two stayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/both-my-marriages-were-failures-number-one-departed-and-number-two/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [I live like a Hottentot. I cannot exchange one sensible word with anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/i-live-like-a-hottentot-i-cannot-exchange-one-sensible-word-with/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [I beg of you... never assume an inner or an outer pose, never a disguise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/i-beg-of-you-never-assume-an-inner-or-an-outer-pose-never-a-disguise/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [Fortunately, something always remains to be harvested. So let us not be idle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/fortunately-something-always-remains-to-be-harvested-so-let-us-not-be/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) [Explore all 69 Gustav Mahler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) ## More Best quotes > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [Scepticism and cynicism about politics is so great that one of the best counters to it is what you can do at a local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-miliband/scepticism-and-cynicism-about-politics-is-so-great-that-one-of-the/) [Ed Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-miliband/) > [Amongst the financial Twitterati, the term 'muppets' has come to describe any client used and abused by some financial predator. I've adopted the term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/amongst-the-financial-twitterati-the-term-muppets-has-come-to/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [It's no wonder Pep is one of the best coaches in the world. When I knew I could work with him I was very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ederson/it-s-no-wonder-pep-is-one-of-the-best-coaches-in-the-world-when-i/) [Ederson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ederson/) > [“Before you were my enemy, you were my best friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kresley-cole/before-you-were-my-enemy-you-were-my-best-friend/) [Kresley Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kresley-cole/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I want to be perceived as a guy who played his best in all facets, not just scoring. A guy who loved challenges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jordan/i-want-to-be-perceived-as-a-guy-who-played-his-best-in-all-facets-not/) [Michael Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jordan/) > [I feel like I'm the best, but you're not going to get me to say that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-rice/i-feel-like-i-m-the-best-but-you-re-not-going-to-get-me-to-say-that/) [Jerry Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-rice/) > [Life is where you love people and use things not use people and love things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babloo/life-is-where-you-love-people-and-use-things-not-use-people-and-love/) [Babloo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babloo/) > [With every product, the delta between the brand and the reality determines its power over the minds of consumers, and with Trump, that delta…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wilson/with-every-product-the-delta-between-the-brand-and-the-reality/) [Rick Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wilson/) > [The human element should be the two players on the court, not the officials. The best officials are the ones you never notice. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-scott/the-human-element-should-be-the-two-players-on-the-court-not-the/) Gene Scott > [I'm looking to fight the best guys in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yair-rodriguez/i-m-looking-to-fight-the-best-guys-in-the-world/) [Yair Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yair-rodriguez/) > [Batley and Spen has a high proportion of people working in manufacturing, and we can boast the full range of industries, including high-skilled, precision…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-cox/batley-and-spen-has-a-high-proportion-of-people-working-in/) [Jo Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-cox/) > [It is no secret that I have read 'The Da Vinci Code' several times. I genuinely believe that 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwin-sanghi/it-is-no-secret-that-i-have-read-the-da-vinci-code-several-times-i/) [Ashwin Sanghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwin-sanghi/) > [Any position I was going to be in, I was going to make the best of it. I always do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bledsoe/any-position-i-was-going-to-be-in-i-was-going-to-make-the-best-of-it/) [Eric Bledsoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bledsoe/) Browse all 21,674 Best quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is best in music is not to be found in the notes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gustav Mahler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found-in-the-notes/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Best" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found-in-the-notes/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/gustav-mahler-9935_best_what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found_3159291.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/gustav-mahler-9935_best_what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found_3159291.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/gustav-mahler-9935_best_what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found_3159291.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What is best in music is not to be found in the notes.” — Gustav Mahler", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gustav Mahler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What is best in music is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found-in-the-notes/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/what-is-best-in-music-is-not-to-be-found-in-the-notes/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```