--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Beethoven was ahead of the times, Bach…" description: "\"Beethoven was ahead of the times, Bach behind them.\" — Ralph Vaughan Williams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/ralph-vaughan-williams-24520_behinds_beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-be_1873523.jpg" --- # Beethoven was ahead of the times, Bach behind them. ![“Beethoven was ahead of the times, Bach behind them.” quote by Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/ralph-vaughan-williams-24520_behinds_beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-be_1873523.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/ralph-vaughan-williams-24520_behinds_beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-be_1873523.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/ralph-vaughan-williams-24520_behinds_beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-be_1873523.jpg) > “Beethoven was ahead of the times, Bach behind them.” [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He contrasts Beethoven's forward-thinking style with Bach's more traditional approach, implying progress in music. **In simple terms:** Beethoven was innovative; Bach was classic. Key Takeaway Embrace innovation while respecting tradition. Themes music innovation tradition Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - composing - music education - cultural analysis - artistic development Key Concepts musical evolution historical context Questions to Reflect On - What balance between tradition and innovation suits you? - How do you honor the past while creating anew? A Different Perspective Innovation may alienate audiences accustomed to tradition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The firm is really ahead of the times. It has a stock market ticker that prints its report on thin aspirins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hope/the-firm-is-really-ahead-of-the-times-it-has-a-stock-market-ticker/) [Bob Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hope/) > [I think that art is supposed to be ahead of the times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-think-that-art-is-supposed-to-be-ahead-of-the-times/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [I think 'Garv' was ahead of its times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/puneet-issar/i-think-garv-was-ahead-of-its-times/) [Puneet Issar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/puneet-issar/) > [Composers most identified with the chamber music form are Corelli, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and, of course, Bach. Of course, Bach. If there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-decrow/composers-most-identified-with-the-chamber-music-form-are-corelli/) [Karen DeCrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-decrow/) > [Id love to have William Faulkner, Beethoven and Bach over. I want to find out what makes those guys tick!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candy-crowley/id-love-to-have-william-faulkner-beethoven-and-bach-over-i-want-to/) [Candy Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candy-crowley/) > [Maybe it's egocentric or whatever, but when I'm playing Beethoven, Bach, Hendrix, or whoever it is, in the end, it just feels like my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/maybe-it-s-egocentric-or-whatever-but-when-i-m-playing-beethoven-bach/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [Artists like Bach and Beethoven erected churches and temples on the heights. I only wanted... to build dwellings for men in which they might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edvard-grieg/artists-like-bach-and-beethoven-erected-churches-and-temples-on-the-2/) [Edvard Grieg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edvard-grieg/) > [I play Beethoven and Bach. At the same time, Biggie is my dog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-keys/i-play-beethoven-and-bach-at-the-same-time-biggie-is-my-dog/) [Alicia Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-keys/) > [I grew up on Bach and Beethoven, and now I'm listening to more modern composers who I can't even name. But since I'm constantly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/i-grew-up-on-bach-and-beethoven-and-now-i-m-listening-to-more-modern/) [A. R. Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) > [Bach is like an astronomer who, with the help of ciphers, finds the most wonderful stars . . . Beethoven embraced the universe with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/bach-is-like-an-astronomer-who-with-the-help-of-ciphers-finds-the/) [Frederic Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [Beethoven, Wagner, Bach, and Mozart settled down day after day to the job in hand. They didn't waste time waiting for inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-newman/beethoven-wagner-bach-and-mozart-settled-down-day-after-day-to-the/) [Ernest Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-newman/) > [I'd love to have William Faulkner, Beethoven and Bach over. I want to find out what makes those guys tick!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candy-crowley/i-d-love-to-have-william-faulkner-beethoven-and-bach-over-i-want-to/) [Candy Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candy-crowley/) > [Bach is an astronomer, discovering the most marvellous stars. Beethoven challenges the universe. I only try to express the soul and the heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/bach-is-an-astronomer-discovering-the-most-marvellous-stars-beethoven/) [Frederic Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [“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/) > [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) ## More by Ralph Vaughan Williams > [A supreme composer can only come out of a musical nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/a-supreme-composer-can-only-come-out-of-a-musical-nation/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [I suppose it never occurs to these people that a man might just want to write a piece of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/i-suppose-it-never-occurs-to-these-people-that-a-man-might-just-want/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [The great men of music close periods; they do not inaugurate them. The pioneer work, the finding of new paths, is left to smaller…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/the-great-men-of-music-close-periods-they-do-not-inaugurate-them-the/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [Wagner used to read the libretti of his operas to his friends; I am glad I was not there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/wagner-used-to-read-the-libretti-of-his-operas-to-his-friends-i-am/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [Two years of close association with some of the best (as well as some of the worst) tunes in the world was a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/two-years-of-close-association-with-some-of-the-best-as-well-as-some/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [But in the next world I shan't be doing music, with all the striving and disappointments. I shall be being it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/but-in-the-next-world-i-shan-t-be-doing-music-with-all-the-striving/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [Have we not all about us forms of a musical expression which we can take and purify and raise to the level of great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/have-we-not-all-about-us-forms-of-a-musical-expression-which-we-can/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [The audience is requested not to refrain from talking during the overture. Otherwise they will know all the tunes before the opera begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/the-audience-is-requested-not-to-refrain-from-talking-during-the/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [It looks wrong, and it sounds wrong, but it's right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/it-looks-wrong-and-it-sounds-wrong-but-it-s-right/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [The art of music above all the other arts is the expression of the soul of a nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/the-art-of-music-above-all-the-other-arts-is-the-expression-of-the/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [Music is the reaching out towards the utmost realities by means of ordered sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/music-is-the-reaching-out-towards-the-utmost-realities-by-means-of/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [The business of finding a nation's soul is a long and slow one at the best and a great many prophets must be slain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/the-business-of-finding-a-nation-s-soul-is-a-long-and-slow-one-at-the/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [ There \[is\] a feeling of recognition, as of meeting an old friend, which comes to us all in the face of great artistic experiences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/there-is-a-feeling-of-recognition-as-of-meeting-an-old-friend-which/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [No, it's a Bb. It looks wrong and it sounds wrong, but it's right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/no-it-s-a-bb-it-looks-wrong-and-it-sounds-wrong-but-it-s-right/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [Film composing is a splendid discipline, and I recommend a course of it to all composition teachers whose pupils are apt to be dawdling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/film-composing-is-a-splendid-discipline-and-i-recommend-a-course-of/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) [Explore all 24 Ralph Vaughan Williams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) ## More Bach quotes > [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [I listen to Bach a great deal. In general I like to listen to hymns and liturgical music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-listen-to-bach-a-great-deal-in-general-i-like-to-listen-to-hymns/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Yes, I mean like you know, having studied with Yehudi Menuhin that is like some direct route into Bach, because he was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/yes-i-mean-like-you-know-having-studied-with-yehudi-menuhin-that-is/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I began to realize that some of the things Ornette Coleman had said about things being played three or fours ways, independently of each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-began-to-realize-that-some-of-the-things-ornette-coleman-had-said/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [Whenever you study composition you inevitably encounter Bach right off the bat. You can't get across the room without running into him and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-roberts/whenever-you-study-composition-you-inevitably-encounter-bach-right/) [Howard Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-roberts/) > [Bernard Herrmann used to write all his scores by himself. So did Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky. I dont understand why this happens in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ennio-morricone/bernard-herrmann-used-to-write-all-his-scores-by-himself-so-did-bach/) [Ennio Morricone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ennio-morricone/) > [“The way we define opera circa 1700 may help us to throw light not just on the choices facing Bach and his brilliant peer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/the-way-we-define-opera-circa-1700-may-help-us-to-throw-light-not/) [John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/) > [The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-author-s-conviction-on-this-day-of-new-year-is-that-music-begins/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [In Bach there is still too much crude Christianity, crude Germanism, crude scholasticism; he stands on the threshold of European (modern) music, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-bach-there-is-still-too-much-crude-christianity-crude-germanism/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I used to listen to a lot of Bach on the radio, and when the basses started to sing, it made everything complete -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-haden/i-used-to-listen-to-a-lot-of-bach-on-the-radio-and-when-the-basses/) [Charlie Haden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-haden/) > [The music of Bach is without doubt the most sacred gift to the world of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heitor-villa-lobos/the-music-of-bach-is-without-doubt-the-most-sacred-gift-to-the-world/) Heitor Villa-Lobos > [“To wake up one day and be Steinway and Glen in One... Glen Steinway, Steinway Glen, all for Bach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/to-wake-up-one-day-and-be-steinway-and-glen-in-one-glen-steinway/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“You're the kind of child who might develop a passion for Bach." I told him I hadn't at school. The one Bach piece I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/you-re-the-kind-of-child-who-might-develop-a-passion-for-bach-i-told/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“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/) Browse all 199 Bach quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Beethoven was ahead of the times, Bach behind them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Vaughan Williams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-behind-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bach" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-behind-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/ralph-vaughan-williams-24520_behinds_beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-be_1873523.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/ralph-vaughan-williams-24520_behinds_beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-be_1873523.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e86/ralph-vaughan-williams-24520_behinds_beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-be_1873523.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Beethoven was ahead of the times, Bach behind them.” — Ralph Vaughan Williams", "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": "Ralph Vaughan Williams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Beethoven was ahead of the times,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-behind-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/beethoven-was-ahead-of-the-times-bach-behind-them/#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 } } ] } ```