--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They both loved piano music and were…" description: "\"“They both loved piano music and were convinced that Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 was the absolute pinnacle in the history of music. And that Wilhelm Back..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/haruki-murakami-21_beethoven_they-both-loved-piano-music-and-were-con_339009.jpg" --- # They both loved piano music and were convinced that… ![“They both loved piano music and were convinced that Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 was the absolute pinnacle in the history of music. And that Wilhelm Backhaus’s unparalleled performance of the sonata for Decca set the interpretive standard.” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/haruki-murakami-21_beethoven_they-both-loved-piano-music-and-were-con_339009.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/haruki-murakami-21_beethoven_they-both-loved-piano-music-and-were-con_339009.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/haruki-murakami-21_beethoven_they-both-loved-piano-music-and-were-con_339009.jpg) > ““They both loved piano music and were convinced that Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 was the absolute pinnacle in the history of music. And that Wilhelm Backhaus’s unparalleled performance of the sonata for Decca set the interpretive standard.”” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The characters view Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 as the ultimate musical achievement, reflecting their deep reverence for classical mastery. **In simple terms:** They consider a specific sonata the highest musical art. Key Takeaway Seek depth in art you admire. Themes music excellence subjectivity culture classical Mood contemplative introspective literary Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - listening sessions - music education - performance critique - personal reflection Key Concepts aesthetic ideal personal canon musical interpretation Questions to Reflect On - What defines a masterpiece for you? - How does personal bias shape artistic standards? A Different Perspective Taste is subjective; not everyone shares the same pinnacle. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Backhaus Unparalleled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backhaus-unparalleled-3155463/) [Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beethoven/) [Beethoven Sonata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beethoven-sonata-3155465/) [Convinced Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convinced-beethoven-3155464/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Piano music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/piano-music/) [Sonata Decca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sonata-decca-3155466/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [My teachers said, 'Always keep a Beethoven sonata under your fingers.' I always have. I still play chamber music, and I always play classical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-sedaka/my-teachers-said-always-keep-a-beethoven-sonata-under-your-fingers-i/) [Neil Sedaka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-sedaka/) > [“Everything we are given or learn or possess in any real sense - - the ability to play Beethoven sonata, write books, understand the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-theroux/everything-we-are-given-or-learn-or-possess-in-any-real-sense-the/) [Phyllis Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-theroux/) > [“Beethoven, he learned, was a proud man who believed absolutely in his own abilities and never bothered to flatter the nobility. Believing that art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/beethoven-he-learned-was-a-proud-man-who-believed-absolutely-in-his/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“A deaf composer's like a cook who's lost his sense of taste. A frog that's lost its webbed feet. A truck driver with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/a-deaf-composer-s-like-a-cook-who-s-lost-his-sense-of-taste-a-frog/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [There's this weird game called 'Blueberry Garden.' For that game an artist recorded some piano music, but evidently he only had a really terrible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c418/there-s-this-weird-game-called-blueberry-garden-for-that-game-an/) [C418](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c418/) > [I never had much interest in the piano until I realized that every time I played, a girl would appear on the piano bench…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duke-ellington/i-never-had-much-interest-in-the-piano-until-i-realized-that-every/) [Duke Ellington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duke-ellington/) > [“Hit one on the wrist and lay back on the bed. Warmth rushed up the back of his thighs and then his spine radiated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-newman/hit-one-on-the-wrist-and-lay-back-on-the-bed-warmth-rushed-up-the/) [James A. Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-newman/) > [Certainly I had from an early age a sense of the power and beauty of religious texts - the awesome magnitude of the Bible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayana-mathis/certainly-i-had-from-an-early-age-a-sense-of-the-power-and-beauty-of/) [Ayana Mathis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayana-mathis/) > [I'm definitely not a laptop/midi/abelton guy. But there is a lot of music I like. I really like Bach organ music. I really like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-raphael/i-m-definitely-not-a-laptop-midi-abelton-guy-but-there-is-a-lot-of/) [Gordon Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-raphael/) > [My mother played piano so we always had music around the house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-winter/my-mother-played-piano-so-we-always-had-music-around-the-house/) [Johnny Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-winter/) > [“Piano music always puts me in deep thoughts mode.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/love-the-stacks-bookstore/piano-music-always-puts-me-in-deep-thoughts-mode/) [Love The Stacks Bookstore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/love-the-stacks-bookstore/) > [People say to me now, Oh, youve given up the piano. How can you? Music is a virus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-mckay/people-say-to-me-now-oh-youve-given-up-the-piano-how-can-you-music-is/) [Christian McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-mckay/) > [A lot of my work is about these moments you find, like when you're driving alone at night by yourself, or you sit at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nir-hod/a-lot-of-my-work-is-about-these-moments-you-find-like-when-you-re/) [Nir Hod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nir-hod/) > [“My mother has always loved piano music and hungered to play. When she was in her early sixties, she retired from her job as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-hafner/my-mother-has-always-loved-piano-music-and-hungered-to-play-when-she/) [Katie Hafner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-hafner/) > [Please do not shoot the pianist. He is doing his best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/please-do-not-shoot-the-pianist-he-is-doing-his-best/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/intelligent-teenage-girls-were-often-instinctively-theatrical/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-by-one-i-ll-face-the-tasks-before-me-and-complete-them-as-best-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Eleven o'clock had come and gone. I had to find a way to bring this conversation to a successful conclusion and get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/eleven-o-clock-had-come-and-gone-i-had-to-find-a-way-to-bring-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Some people get a kick out of reading railway timetables and that's all they do all day. Some people make huge model boats out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-get-a-kick-out-of-reading-railway-timetables-and-that-s/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When the time comes, everybody’s got to end up where they belong. Only me, I didn’t have a place to call my own. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Explore all 2,928 Haruki Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More Beethoven quotes > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I believe so, but at first he must know. He must know in which spirit Beethoven has composed this piece. He must try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-masur/i-believe-so-but-at-first-he-must-know-he-must-know-in-which-spirit/) [Kurt Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-masur/) > [And now, in honour of the 150th anniversary of Beethoven's death, I would like to play 'Clear the Saloon', er, 'Clair de Lune', by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-borge/and-now-in-honour-of-the-150th-anniversary-of-beethoven-s-death-i/) [Victor Borge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-borge/) > [“That Beethoven was capable of producing the ultimate musical definition of heroism in this context is itself extraordinary, for he was able to evoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-solomon/that-beethoven-was-capable-of-producing-the-ultimate-musical/) [Maynard Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-solomon/) > [“He had said it bravely, and that is why one can trust Beethoven when he says other things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-had-said-it-bravely-and-that-is-why-one-can-trust-beethoven-when/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [The point of recapitulation in the first movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony unleashes one of the most horrifyingly violent episodes in the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-mcclary/the-point-of-recapitulation-in-the-first-movement-of-beethoven-s/) [Susan McClary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-mcclary/) > [“You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/you-ll-have-a-good-secure-life-when-being-alive-means-more-to-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [I shall never forget Juliek. How could I forget this concert given before an audience of the dead and dying? Even today, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-shall-never-forget-juliek-how-could-i-forget-this-concert-given/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“Did Beethoven create his symphonies for his glorification? I don't believe it. I believe he created them because the music in his soul demanded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/did-beethoven-create-his-symphonies-for-his-glorification-i-don-t/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“On behalf of all that is good and melodic, Ludwig van Beethoven, I apologize.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-strohmeyer/on-behalf-of-all-that-is-good-and-melodic-ludwig-van-beethoven-i/) [Sarah Strohmeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-strohmeyer/) > [Beethoven can't really be great because his picture isn't on a bubble gum card.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schulz/beethoven-can-t-really-be-great-because-his-picture-isn-t-on-a-bubble/) [Charles M. Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schulz/) > [“I hope Ludwig van Beethoven gets his cut, Langdon thought, fairly certain that the original inventor of bone conduction technology was the eighteenth-century composer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/i-hope-ludwig-van-beethoven-gets-his-cut-langdon-thought-fairly/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [“A deaf composer's like a cook who's lost his sense of taste. A frog that's lost its webbed feet. A truck driver with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/a-deaf-composer-s-like-a-cook-who-s-lost-his-sense-of-taste-a-frog/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Pulse as an active means of expression, Stravinsky and Beethoven are the two masters of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/pulse-as-an-active-means-of-expression-stravinsky-and-beethoven-are/) [Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/) > [I think there are very few people that I would give the title of genius to, really, but Beethoven unquestionably is one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i-would-give-the-title-of/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) [Browse all 240 Beethoven quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beethoven/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They both loved piano music and were convinced that Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 was the absolute pinnacle in the history of music. 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