--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm not interested in having an orchestra…" description: "\"I'm not interested in having an orchestra sound like itself. I want it to sound like the composer.\" — Leonard Bernstein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/leonard-bernstein-10475_composer_i-m-not-interested-in-having-an-orchestr_2306408.jpg" --- # I'm not interested in having an orchestra sound like… ![“I'm not interested in having an orchestra sound like itself. I want it to sound like the composer.” quote by Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/leonard-bernstein-10475_composer_i-m-not-interested-in-having-an-orchestr_2306408.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/leonard-bernstein-10475_composer_i-m-not-interested-in-having-an-orchestr_2306408.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/leonard-bernstein-10475_composer_i-m-not-interested-in-having-an-orchestr_2306408.jpg) > “I'm not interested in having an orchestra sound like itself. I want it to sound like the composer.” [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The composer wants the orchestra to embody his vision, not just reproduce its own sound. **In simple terms:** Orchestra should reflect the composer's intent. Key Takeaway Align performance with artistic intent. Themes music art interpretation Mood inspirational thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - concerts - recordings - rehearsals Key Concepts Composer's vision orchestral sound Questions to Reflect On - How to convey a composer's unique style? - What balance between tradition and innovation? A Different Perspective Orchestra may resist unconventional directions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Composer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composer/) [Orchestra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orchestra/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) ## Related quotes > [Beauty and fullness of tone can be achieved by having the whole orchestra play with high clarinets and a carefully selected number of piccolos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-mahler/beauty-and-fullness-of-tone-can-be-achieved-by-having-the-whole/) [Gustav Mahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-mahler/) > [Every orchestra has its own sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-rattle/every-orchestra-has-its-own-sound/) [Simon Rattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-rattle/) > [If you listen - and I don't, usually - to my first two records, I sound like a baby surrounded by a beautiful orchestra.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-gardot/if-you-listen-and-i-don-t-usually-to-my-first-two-records-i-sound/) [Melody Gardot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-gardot/) > [I'm like any other composer. If you give me five years to write a symphony, I'm still going to be asking for more time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-criss/i-m-like-any-other-composer-if-you-give-me-five-years-to-write-a/) [Darren Criss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-criss/) > [Im like any other composer. If you give me five years to write a symphony, Im still going to be asking for more time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-criss/im-like-any-other-composer-if-you-give-me-five-years-to-write-a/) [Darren Criss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-criss/) > [I don't work with an outline, except a vague one in my head, a general idea of character, place, arc... I'm like a composer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/said-sayrafiezadeh/i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-except-a-vague-one-in-my-head-a-general/) [Said Sayrafiezadeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/said-sayrafiezadeh/) > [Writing is a little athletic for me. I get worked up a little bit when I do it. So I guess I'm a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-carter/writing-is-a-little-athletic-for-me-i-get-worked-up-a-little-bit-when/) [Chris Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-carter/) > [I just have to take my chances like any other composer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-getty/i-just-have-to-take-my-chances-like-any-other-composer/) [Gordon Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-getty/) > [On Mars, where the air is spare - a hundred times less dense than on Earth - someone could hear you scream. But you'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/on-mars-where-the-air-is-spare-a-hundred-times-less-dense-than-on/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [When my opera Plump Jack was performed in 1989, my first piano teacher sent me something that I'd composed when I was four. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-getty/when-my-opera-plump-jack-was-performed-in-1989-my-first-piano-teacher/) [Gordon Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-getty/) > [“How strange and god-like was a composer's power, who from the grave could lead through sequences of emotion, which he alone had felt at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/how-strange-and-god-like-was-a-composer-s-power-who-from-the-grave/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [In my years of working in theatre and TV I've learnt that my main skill is not the instrumental playing but the idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregor-schwellenbach/in-my-years-of-working-in-theatre-and-tv-i-ve-learnt-that-my-main/) [Gregor Schwellenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregor-schwellenbach/) > [I like a composer called Henry Purcell, and I love to listen to Neil Young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/i-like-a-composer-called-henry-purcell-and-i-love-to-listen-to-neil/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [Other, far fewer, directors are more like the composer - conceptualizing the piece, scoring it, distributing its musical lines among a range of registers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harrison/other-far-fewer-directors-are-more-like-the-composer-conceptualizing/) [Thomas Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harrison/) > [I really want to become, like, a composer for my people, my country that will photograph the things that are happening now in story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-lafourcade/i-really-want-to-become-like-a-composer-for-my-people-my-country-that/) [Natalia Lafourcade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-lafourcade/) ## More by Leonard Bernstein > [A liberal is a man or a woman or a child who looks forward to a better day, a more tranquil night, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/a-liberal-is-a-man-or-a-woman-or-a-child-who-looks-forward-to-a/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [I think it is time we learned the lesson of our century: that the progress of the human spirit must keep pace with technological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/i-think-it-is-time-we-learned-the-lesson-of-our-century-that-the/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Conducting is like making love to a hundred people at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/conducting-is-like-making-love-to-a-hundred-people-at-the-same-time/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [I'm no longer quite sure what the question is, but I do know that the answer is Yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/i-m-no-longer-quite-sure-what-the-question-is-but-i-do-know-that-the/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Our most emotionally active life is lived in our dreams, and our cells renew themselves most industriously in sleep. We reach highest in meditation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/our-most-emotionally-active-life-is-lived-in-our-dreams-and-our-cells/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/music-can-name-the-unnameable-and-communicate-the-unknowable/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Any asshole can write a tone-row. It takes a composer to write a tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/any-asshole-can-write-a-tone-row-it-takes-a-composer-to-write-a-tune/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [From New Year's on the outlook brightens; good humor lost in a mood of failure returns. I resolve to stop complaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/from-new-year-s-on-the-outlook-brightens-good-humor-lost-in-a-mood-of/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Music, because of its specific and far-reaching metaphorical powers, can name the unnamable and communicate the unknowable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/music-because-of-its-specific-and-far-reaching-metaphorical-powers/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Einstein said that the most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. So why do so many of us try to explain the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/einstein-said-that-the-most-beautiful-experience-we-can-have-is-the/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [When the thunder rumbles, Now the age of gold is dead. When the dreams we've clung to Trying to stay young, Have left us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/when-the-thunder-rumbles-now-the-age-of-gold-is-dead-when-the-dreams/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/inspiration-is-wonderful-when-it-happens-but-the-writer-must-develop/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [...we can all shut-up and go back to our caves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/we-can-all-shut-up-and-go-back-to-our-caves/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [“We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good We'll do the best we know. We'll build our house and chop our wood And make our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-ll-do-the-best-we-know-we-ll/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [I have two answers to everything and one answer to nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/i-have-two-answers-to-everything-and-one-answer-to-nothing/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) [Explore all 65 Leonard Bernstein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) ## More Composer quotes > [A composer knows that music is written by human beings for human beings and that music is a continuation of life, not something separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanns-eisler/a-composer-knows-that-music-is-written-by-human-beings-for-human/) Hanns Eisler > [Bruce Katz is a spectacular talent! He's a brilliant composer and arranger who uses uncommon and unique musical intelligence to redefine jazz and blues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-coryell/bruce-katz-is-a-spectacular-talent-he-s-a-brilliant-composer-and/) [Larry Coryell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-coryell/) > [Trombone virtuoso and innovative composer, Papo combines the best of jazz and Latin music to create a genre that is unique and wild. He's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-brecker/trombone-virtuoso-and-innovative-composer-papo-combines-the-best-of/) Michael Brecker > [“- Mom, can I tell them there that I'm Romanian? - Sure, why not tell them? - I was thinking that they wouldn't think...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-enescu/mom-can-i-tell-them-there-that-i-m-romanian-sure-why-not-tell-them-i/) George Enescu > [The number of e-mails and letters that I get from choreographers, from sculptors, from composers who are being inspired by science is huge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/the-number-of-e-mails-and-letters-that-i-get-from-choreographers-from/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [The architect is very interesting because the architect is the commander, meaning the one who commands all the workers. The architect is also the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/the-architect-is-very-interesting-because-the-architect-is-the/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [If a composer could state in words what being a composer means, he would no longer need to be a composer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-rorem/if-a-composer-could-state-in-words-what-being-a-composer-means-he/) [Ned Rorem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ned-rorem/) > [Seen from the point of view of the composer, the most nonsensical practice is that of casting people in musicals who are unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gold/seen-from-the-point-of-view-of-the-composer-the-most-nonsensical/) Ernest Gold > [I think there's just been this "thing" that's developed, this way that we have of talking about our music that alienates people. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/missy-mazzoli/i-think-there-s-just-been-this-thing-that-s-developed-this-way-that/) [Missy Mazzoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/missy-mazzoli/) > [The ability to understand and deliver comedy and tragedy is extremely rare in one composer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/signe-baumane/the-ability-to-understand-and-deliver-comedy-and-tragedy-is-extremely/) [Signe Baumane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/signe-baumane/) > [When synthesizers appeared everyone was a composer suddenly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-desplat/when-synthesizers-appeared-everyone-was-a-composer-suddenly/) [Alexandre Desplat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-desplat/) > [A mission that comes from the heart to promote these things and to encourage composers to write, then of course they should do it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-andre-hamelin/a-mission-that-comes-from-the-heart-to-promote-these-things-and-to/) [Marc-Andre Hamelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-andre-hamelin/) > [The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-beebe/the-beauty-and-genius-of-a-work-of-art-may-be-reconceived-though-its/) [William Beebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-beebe/) > [Every time I see a film or TV show, I think about how that composer made those choices and how that director envisioned music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lopez/every-time-i-see-a-film-or-tv-show-i-think-about-how-that-composer/) [Robert Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lopez/) > [Like any other composer of opera, I choose a subject not for polemical reasons, but because it contains vivid characters in highly charged dramatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/like-any-other-composer-of-opera-i-choose-a-subject-not-for-polemical/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) [Browse all 885 Composer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm not interested in having an orchestra sound like itself. 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