--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I strenuously object to the very word…" description: "\"I strenuously object to the very word \"grotesque\" which has become hackneyed to the point of nausea...I would prefer my music to be described as \"Scher..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/sergei-prokofiev-33620_degrees_i-strenuously-object-to-the-very-word-gr_3069854.jpg" --- # I strenuously object to the very word "grotesque" which… ![“I strenuously object to the very word "grotesque" which has become hackneyed to the point of nausea...I would prefer my music to be described as "Scherzo-ish" in quality, or else by three words describing the various degrees of the Scherzo - whimsicality, laughter, mockery.” quote by Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/sergei-prokofiev-33620_degrees_i-strenuously-object-to-the-very-word-gr_3069854.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/sergei-prokofiev-33620_degrees_i-strenuously-object-to-the-very-word-gr_3069854.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/sergei-prokofiev-33620_degrees_i-strenuously-object-to-the-very-word-gr_3069854.jpg) > “I strenuously object to the very word "grotesque" which has become hackneyed to the point of nausea...I would prefer my music to be described as "Scherzo-ish" in quality, or else by three words describing the various degrees of the Scherzo - whimsicality, laughter, mockery.” [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He rejects the overused term “grotesque” for his music, preferring “scherzo-ish” and descriptors like whimsical, laughing, mockery. **In simple terms:** He wants fresh, nuanced language for his compositions. Key Takeaway Choose precise, vivid descriptors for art. Themes art criticism language musicology Mood thoughtful analytical Type descriptive critical When to use this quote - program notes - concert reviews - academic papers Key Concepts aesthetic theory semantic precision Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape perception of music? - What alternative terms capture your work’s spirit? A Different Perspective Overly specific terms may limit broader audience understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Laughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) [Mockery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mockery/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [The art which we may call generally art of the wayside, as opposed to that which is the business of men's lives, is, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-art-which-we-may-call-generally-art-of-the-wayside-as-opposed-to/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [I prefer my music. I'm more of a one-nighter kind of person than to do a squat-down job for three months or whatever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/i-prefer-my-music-i-m-more-of-a-one-nighter-kind-of-person-than-to-do/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [I prefer music but sometimes if there's on talk radio - someone might be on that I like. I listen to the old -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/i-prefer-music-but-sometimes-if-there-s-on-talk-radio-someone-might/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [I prefer music where melody, harmony and rhythm come together and no one element overshadows the other. Jazz at its best is a democracy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-heath/i-prefer-music-where-melody-harmony-and-rhythm-come-together-and-no/) [Jimmy Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-heath/) > [I prefer music that invents a universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-bellamy/i-prefer-music-that-invents-a-universe/) [Matthew Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-bellamy/) > [I prefer to have the music as pure as possible. I don't want to say, 'Oh yes, this is good. This is not good;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vangelis/i-prefer-to-have-the-music-as-pure-as-possible-i-don-t-want-to-say-oh/) [Vangelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vangelis/) > [From the period when I wrote La Nausea I wanted to create a morality. My evolution consists in my no longer dreaming of doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/from-the-period-when-i-wrote-la-nausea-i-wanted-to-create-a-morality/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“(Sartre) (The world is full without me, as in Nausea; the world plays at living behind a glass partition; the world is in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/sartre-the-world-is-full-without-me-as-in-nausea-the-world-plays-at/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I have done no passably decent job in this world which did not at first seem to me useless - absurdly useless, useless to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/i-have-done-no-passably-decent-job-in-this-world-which-did-not-at/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [“know very well that I don’t want to do anything: to do something is to create existence—and there’s quite enough existence as it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/know-very-well-that-i-don-t-want-to-do-anything-to-do-something-is-to/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [There is a very fine line between love and nausea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-earl-jones/there-is-a-very-fine-line-between-love-and-nausea/) [James Earl Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-earl-jones/) > [“Finally, nausea at my own ballooning sense of self wore me down and I slept. (17)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shani-mootoo/finally-nausea-at-my-own-ballooning-sense-of-self-wore-me-down-and-i/) [Shani Mootoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shani-mootoo/) > [I learned through my body and soul that it was necessary to sin, that I needed lust, that I had to strive for property…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/i-learned-through-my-body-and-soul-that-it-was-necessary-to-sin-that/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Nausea is an unsolved problem of medicine and marijuana is the finest anti-nausea medication known to science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/nausea-is-an-unsolved-problem-of-medicine-and-marijuana-is-the-finest/) [Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/) > [For seven days she lay in bed looking sullenly at the ceiling as though resenting the death she had cultivated for so many years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/for-seven-days-she-lay-in-bed-looking-sullenly-at-the-ceiling-as/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) ## More by Sergei Prokofiev > [At home we didnt talk about religion. So gradually the question faded away by itself and disappeared from the agenda. When I was nineteen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/at-home-we-didnt-talk-about-religion-so-gradually-the-question-faded/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [Formalism is music that people don't understand at first hearing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/formalism-is-music-that-people-don-t-understand-at-first-hearing/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [My chief virtue (or if you like, defect) has been a tireless lifelong search for an original, individual musical idiom. I detest imitation, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/my-chief-virtue-or-if-you-like-defect-has-been-a-tireless-lifelong/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [In my view, the composer, just as the poet, the sculptor or the painter, is in duty bound to serve Man, the people. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/in-my-view-the-composer-just-as-the-poet-the-sculptor-or-the-painter/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [My mother had to explain that one couldn't compose a Liszt rhapsody because it was a piece of music that Liszt himself had composed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/my-mother-had-to-explain-that-one-couldn-t-compose-a-liszt-rhapsody/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [When the Second World War broke out, I felt that everyone must do his share, and I began composing songs and marches for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/when-the-second-world-war-broke-out-i-felt-that-everyone-must-do-his/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [Of course I have used dissonance in my time, but there has been too much dissonance. Bach used dissonance as good salt for his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/of-course-i-have-used-dissonance-in-my-time-but-there-has-been-too/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [There are still so many beautiful things to be said in C major.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/there-are-still-so-many-beautiful-things-to-be-said-in-c-major/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [My mother had to explain that one couldnt compose a Liszt rhapsody because it was a piece of music that Liszt himself had composed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/my-mother-had-to-explain-that-one-couldnt-compose-a-liszt-rhapsody/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [I detest imitation, I detest hackneyed devices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/i-detest-imitation-i-detest-hackneyed-devices/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [I want nothing better, more flexible or more complete than the sonata form, which contains everything necessary for my structural purposes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/i-want-nothing-better-more-flexible-or-more-complete-than-the-sonata/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [I have never doubted the importance of melody. I like melody very much, and I consider it the most important element in music, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/i-have-never-doubted-the-importance-of-melody-i-like-melody-very-much/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [It seemed to me that had Haydn lived to our day he would have retained his own style while accepting something of the new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/it-seemed-to-me-that-had-haydn-lived-to-our-day-he-would-have/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) [Explore all 14 Sergei Prokofiev quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) ## More Degrees quotes > [ \[Photography is \] likewise even French impressionists. So the Sculls bought pop. It was politics, and they moved with it. 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After I graduated with my masters I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-algieri/i-was-a-full-time-student-either-at-stony-brook-or-nyu-getting-my/) [Chris Algieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-algieri/) > [Life comes from death. To the degree that I can live in the death of Jesus - to that degree I can channel God's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-giglio/life-comes-from-death-to-the-degree-that-i-can-live-in-the-death-of/) [Louie Giglio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-giglio/) > [By heaven we understand a state of happiness infinite in degree, and endless in duration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-heaven-we-understand-a-state-of-happiness-infinite-in-degree-and/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [As hard as I try to live with some degree of faith in my life, I just can't believe that the full moon can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/as-hard-as-i-try-to-live-with-some-degree-of-faith-in-my-life-i-just/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [The male dares to be different to the degree that he accepts his passivity and his desire to be female, his fagginess. 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