--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think there are very few people that I…" description: "\"I think there are very few people that I would give the title of genius to, really, but Beethoven unquestionably is one of them.\" — Stephen Hough" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b9/stephen-hough-6372_beethoven_i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i_288400.jpg" --- # I think there are very few people that I would give the… ![“I think there are very few people that I would give the title of genius to, really, but Beethoven unquestionably is one of them.” quote by Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b9/stephen-hough-6372_beethoven_i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i_288400.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b9/stephen-hough-6372_beethoven_i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i_288400.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b9/stephen-hough-6372_beethoven_i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i_288400.jpg) > “I think there are very few people that I would give the title of genius to, really, but Beethoven unquestionably is one of them.” [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beethoven exemplifies true genius, rare among people. **In simple terms:** Beethoven is a rare genius. Key Takeaway Recognize and study true mastery. Themes genius music excellence Mood respectful admiring Type evaluative inspirational When to use this quote - classical music appreciation - music education - creative inspiration Key Concepts artistic talent historical impact Questions to Reflect On - What qualities define genius for you? - How does Beethoven's work influence modern music? A Different Perspective Genius is subjective and culturally defined. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [The great man of science, unless he is also a philosopher, ... deserves the title of genius as little as the man of action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/the-great-man-of-science-unless-he-is-also-a-philosopher-deserves-the/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) > [I think Berry Gordy is a genius, I really do, and it's not a word I throw around lightly. But with all that comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-de-passe/i-think-berry-gordy-is-a-genius-i-really-do-and-it-s-not-a-word-i/) [Suzanne de Passe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-de-passe/) > [“And, of course, he eventually found it—proving that genius often really is just persistence in disguise. In applying the entirety of his physical and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-of-course-he-eventually-found-it-proving-that-genius-often-really/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Martin Freeman is a genius, he really is. He gives you every color of the rainbow in every take and it's wonderful just to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-pulver/martin-freeman-is-a-genius-he-really-is-he-gives-you-every-color-of/) [Lara Pulver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-pulver/) > [I wish I could tell you that the Children's Television Workshop and Sesame Street were thanks to my genius, but it really was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-ganz-cooney/i-wish-i-could-tell-you-that-the-children-s-television-workshop-and/) [Joan Ganz Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-ganz-cooney/) > [The definition of genius, really, should be that that person can do what the rest of us have to learn how to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lipton/the-definition-of-genius-really-should-be-that-that-person-can-do/) [James Lipton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lipton/) > [I think that Tyler Perry's genius really has been to tap into the domestic market. He knows what his audience is based on, having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-think-that-tyler-perry-s-genius-really-has-been-to-tap-into-the/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [I'm supposed to be this musical genius and everything, but I can't really work the car seat that well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-jenner/i-m-supposed-to-be-this-musical-genius-and-everything-but-i-can-t/) [Kris Jenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-jenner/) > [If they say they don't like the way I play Beethoven, then I can swallow that, and maybe they're right. But if they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/if-they-say-they-don-t-like-the-way-i-play-beethoven-then-i-can/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [When you're a kid, Beethoven is Beethoven, but as I've grown older, my astonishment at the sheer inventiveness of the man has increased, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/when-you-re-a-kid-beethoven-is-beethoven-but-as-i-ve-grown-older-my/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [“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/) > [“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 > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Stephen Hough > [One of the things that touches me most when I play for an audience is that although we may be unable to communicate in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/one-of-the-things-that-touches-me-most-when-i-play-for-an-audience-is/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [Unlike sport, music is not about winning or keeping fit or promoting your town or school; it's about celebrating, to a level approaching ecstasy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/unlike-sport-music-is-not-about-winning-or-keeping-fit-or-promoting/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [In Britten or Berg, there's a tension between the sweet and the sour, between the familiar and the unfamiliar, the tonal and the atonal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/in-britten-or-berg-there-s-a-tension-between-the-sweet-and-the-sour/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [The things I do outside of playing the piano are done out of an inner necessity, not just because I want to try my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/the-things-i-do-outside-of-playing-the-piano-are-done-out-of-an-inner/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [There are artists who delight listeners with their wild and daring individuality; there are others who uncover the written score with reverence. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/there-are-artists-who-delight-listeners-with-their-wild-and-daring/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [They both changed the way we hear the sound of the piano, both of them inventors of sonority: Chopin took bel canto singing lines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/they-both-changed-the-way-we-hear-the-sound-of-the-piano-both-of-them/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [Classical music thinks in centuries, not four-year terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/classical-music-thinks-in-centuries-not-four-year-terms/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [I was such a lazy teenager: I didn't read or play the piano beyond the bare minimum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-was-such-a-lazy-teenager-i-didn-t-read-or-play-the-piano-beyond-the/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [Before the 20th century, to be a successful musician was merely to be one who was employed. A few, such as Liszt, Paderewski and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/before-the-20th-century-to-be-a-successful-musician-was-merely-to-be/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [In school, my favourite class was when we were given a subject for an essay on which we could freewheel. And poetry: I've always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/in-school-my-favourite-class-was-when-we-were-given-a-subject-for-an/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [If I'm walking along the street, ideas come. Ideas about things that I'm interested in. I've jotted them down in the past on bits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/if-i-m-walking-along-the-street-ideas-come-ideas-about-things-that-i/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [I can admire music where you feel the composer has everything organized and perfectly shaped, but it doesn't touch me. I like to feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-can-admire-music-where-you-feel-the-composer-has-everything/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [I was out of the U.K. as a care-free, fun-loving student for much of Mrs. Thatcher's time in Downing Street, and as I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-was-out-of-the-u-k-as-a-care-free-fun-loving-student-for-much-of/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [Before Liszt, a conductor was someone who just facilitated the performance, who would keep people together or beat the time, indicate the entries. After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/before-liszt-a-conductor-was-someone-who-just-facilitated-the/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [There's certainly no doubt that commercialism has entered classical music to such a degree that almost no one seems to care anymore about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/there-s-certainly-no-doubt-that-commercialism-has-entered-classical/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) [Explore all 99 Stephen Hough quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) ## 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 > [“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've got that Beethoven energy, that Stravinsky energy. And it's all a gift from the Creator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wadada-leo-smith/i-ve-got-that-beethoven-energy-that-stravinsky-energy-and-it-s-all-a/) [Wadada Leo Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wadada-leo-smith/) Browse all 240 Beethoven quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think there are very few people that I would give the title of genius to, really, but Beethoven unquestionably is one of them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen Hough" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i-would-give-the-title-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beethoven" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i-would-give-the-title-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b9/stephen-hough-6372_beethoven_i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i_288400.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b9/stephen-hough-6372_beethoven_i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i_288400.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b9/stephen-hough-6372_beethoven_i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i_288400.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think there are very few people that I would give the title of genius to, really, but Beethoven…” — Stephen Hough", "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": "Stephen Hough", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think there are very few...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i-would-give-the-title-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i-would-give-the-title-of/#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 } } ] } ```