--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Any musician who has not experienced - I…" description: "\"Any musician who has not experienced - I do not say understood, but truly experienced - the necessity of dodecaphonic music is USELESS. For his whole w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/pierre-boulez-30980_epoch_any-musician-who-has-not-experienced-i-d_1057349.jpg" --- # Any musician who has not experienced - I do not say… ![“Any musician who has not experienced - I do not say understood, but truly experienced - the necessity of dodecaphonic music is USELESS. For his whole work is irrelevant to the needs of his epoch.” quote by Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/pierre-boulez-30980_epoch_any-musician-who-has-not-experienced-i-d_1057349.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/pierre-boulez-30980_epoch_any-musician-who-has-not-experienced-i-d_1057349.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/pierre-boulez-30980_epoch_any-musician-who-has-not-experienced-i-d_1057349.jpg) > “Any musician who has not experienced - I do not say understood, but truly experienced - the necessity of dodecaphonic music is USELESS. For his whole work is irrelevant to the needs of his epoch.” [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A composer who ignores twelve‑tone technique fails to address his era’s artistic needs, rendering his work irrelevant. **In simple terms:** Ignoring key musical methods makes work outdated. Key Takeaway Embrace contemporary techniques. Themes music relevance innovation Mood thoughtful critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - composition - education - performance - critical analysis Key Concepts twelve‑tone modernism Questions to Reflect On - How does technique shape relevance? - Can tradition coexist with innovation? A Different Perspective May limit emotional expression for some audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dodecaphonic Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dodecaphonic-music-2563405/) [Epoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epoch/) [Irrelevant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrelevant/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Music is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-is/) [Music Useless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-useless-2563404/) [Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician/) [Musician Experienced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician-experienced-2563406/) [Necessity Dodecaphonic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessity-dodecaphonic-2563403/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood/) [Useless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) ## Related quotes > [“Music is everything and nothing. It is useless and no limit can be set on its use. Music takes me to places of illimitable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/music-is-everything-and-nothing-it-is-useless-and-no-limit-can-be-set/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [In our case, we are in the Cenozoic Era, which started at the end of the time of the dinosaurs. We are in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-lacovara/in-our-case-we-are-in-the-cenozoic-era-which-started-at-the-end-of/) [Kenneth Lacovara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-lacovara/) > [All freed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/all-freed-fast-frozen-relations-with-their-train-of-ancient-and/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The publication in 1859 of the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin made a marked epoch in my own mental development, as it did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-galton/the-publication-in-1859-of-the-origin-of-species-by-charles-darwin/) [Francis Galton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-galton/) > [In the midst of each epoch, I fully realize that a new epoch will dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/in-the-midst-of-each-epoch-i-fully-realize-that-a-new-epoch-will-dawn/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [We are at a major epoch in human history, which is that we don't need sex to recreate the race. You can have babies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cronenberg/we-are-at-a-major-epoch-in-human-history-which-is-that-we-don-t-need/) [David Cronenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cronenberg/) > [I'm a joker who has understood his epoch and has extracted all he possibly could from the stupidity, greed and vanity of his contemporaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/i-m-a-joker-who-has-understood-his-epoch-and-has-extracted-all-he/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Amongst the many definitions, there is one that may be generally agreed upon: modernity is the epoch in which simply being modern became a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/amongst-the-many-definitions-there-is-one-that-may-be-generally/) [Gianni Vattimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-vattimo/) > [Here and there, in some older houses, old faded daguerreotypes still hang on the walls... They seem to us to be very simple... compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/here-and-there-in-some-older-houses-old-faded-daguerreotypes-still/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [Buddhism, I think, is probably facing the single most difficult transition from one historical epoch to another, which is really the transition to modernity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-batchelor/buddhism-i-think-is-probably-facing-the-single-most-difficult/) [Stephen Batchelor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-batchelor/) > [When you think about what Homo sapiens are about, you almost feel that we are replacing ourselves. We won't be able to breathe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/when-you-think-about-what-homo-sapiens-are-about-you-almost-feel-that/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [The intensive use of photographs by mass media lays ever fresh responsibilities upon the photographer. We have to acknowledge the existence of a chasm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/the-intensive-use-of-photographs-by-mass-media-lays-ever-fresh/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [The epoch of Customary Law, and of its custody by a privileged order, is a very remarkable one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james-sumner-maine/the-epoch-of-customary-law-and-of-its-custody-by-a-privileged-order/) [Henry James Sumner Maine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james-sumner-maine/) ## More by Pierre Boulez > [For me, curiosity is life. If you are not curious, you are in your coffin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/for-me-curiosity-is-life-if-you-are-not-curious-you-are-in-your-coffin/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [The function of pop music is to be consumed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/the-function-of-pop-music-is-to-be-consumed/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Music is a labyrinth with no beginning and no end, full of new paths to discover, where mystery remains eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/music-is-a-labyrinth-with-no-beginning-and-no-end-full-of-new-paths/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [We need to restore the spirit of irreverence in music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/we-need-to-restore-the-spirit-of-irreverence-in-music/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [The aim of music is not to express feelings but to express music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/the-aim-of-music-is-not-to-express-feelings-but-to-express-music/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Why compose works that have to be re-created every time they are performed? Because definitive, once-and-for-all developments seem no longer appropriate to musical thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/why-compose-works-that-have-to-be-re-created-every-time-they-are/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [More and more I find that in order to create effectively one has to consider delirium and, yes, organize it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/more-and-more-i-find-that-in-order-to-create-effectively-one-has-to/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [All art of the past must be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/all-art-of-the-past-must-be-destroyed/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [I suggested that it was not enough to add a moustache to the Mona Lisa: it should simply be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/i-suggested-that-it-was-not-enough-to-add-a-moustache-to-the-mona/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [I shall be the first composer in history not to have a biography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/i-shall-be-the-first-composer-in-history-not-to-have-a-biography/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [It is not enough to deface the Mona Lisa because that does not kill the Mona Lisa. All art of the past must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/it-is-not-enough-to-deface-the-mona-lisa-because-that-does-not-kill/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Creation exists only in the unforeseen made necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/creation-exists-only-in-the-unforeseen-made-necessary/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Revolutions are celebrated when they are no longer dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/revolutions-are-celebrated-when-they-are-no-longer-dangerous/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [Music should be a collective magic and hysteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/music-should-be-a-collective-magic-and-hysteria/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) > [We have to fight the past to survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-boulez/we-have-to-fight-the-past-to-survive/) [Pierre Boulez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) [Explore all 17 Pierre Boulez quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-boulez/) ## More Epoch quotes > [The epoch of Customary Law, and of its custody by a privileged order, is a very remarkable one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james-sumner-maine/the-epoch-of-customary-law-and-of-its-custody-by-a-privileged-order/) [Henry James Sumner Maine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james-sumner-maine/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [The intensive use of photographs by mass media lays ever fresh responsibilities upon the photographer. We have to acknowledge the existence of a chasm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/the-intensive-use-of-photographs-by-mass-media-lays-ever-fresh/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [When you think about what Homo sapiens are about, you almost feel that we are replacing ourselves. We won't be able to breathe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/when-you-think-about-what-homo-sapiens-are-about-you-almost-feel-that/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [Buddhism, I think, is probably facing the single most difficult transition from one historical epoch to another, which is really the transition to modernity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-batchelor/buddhism-i-think-is-probably-facing-the-single-most-difficult/) [Stephen Batchelor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-batchelor/) > [Here and there, in some older houses, old faded daguerreotypes still hang on the walls... They seem to us to be very simple... compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/here-and-there-in-some-older-houses-old-faded-daguerreotypes-still/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [Amongst the many definitions, there is one that may be generally agreed upon: modernity is the epoch in which simply being modern became a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/amongst-the-many-definitions-there-is-one-that-may-be-generally/) [Gianni Vattimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-vattimo/) > [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [I'm a joker who has understood his epoch and has extracted all he possibly could from the stupidity, greed and vanity of his contemporaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/i-m-a-joker-who-has-understood-his-epoch-and-has-extracted-all-he/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [We are at a major epoch in human history, which is that we don't need sex to recreate the race. You can have babies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cronenberg/we-are-at-a-major-epoch-in-human-history-which-is-that-we-don-t-need/) [David Cronenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cronenberg/) > [In the midst of each epoch, I fully realize that a new epoch will dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/in-the-midst-of-each-epoch-i-fully-realize-that-a-new-epoch-will-dawn/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [The publication in 1859 of the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin made a marked epoch in my own mental development, as it did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-galton/the-publication-in-1859-of-the-origin-of-species-by-charles-darwin/) [Francis Galton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-galton/) > [All freed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/all-freed-fast-frozen-relations-with-their-train-of-ancient-and/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [In our case, we are in the Cenozoic Era, which started at the end of the time of the dinosaurs. We are in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-lacovara/in-our-case-we-are-in-the-cenozoic-era-which-started-at-the-end-of/) [Kenneth Lacovara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-lacovara/) > [Therefore, let me in honesty speak the truth about our epoch and people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-sander/therefore-let-me-in-honesty-speak-the-truth-about-our-epoch-and-people/) [August Sander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-sander/) [Browse all 188 Epoch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epoch/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Any musician who has not experienced - I do not say understood, but truly experienced - the necessity of dodecaphonic music is USELESS. 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