--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The work had its own history of struggle…" description: "\"“The work had its own history of struggle. Originally intended as a showpiece for pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, it was dismissed by that renowned pianist..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/stuart-isacoff-36005_history_the-work-had-its-own-history-of-struggle_2354001.jpg" --- # The work had its own history of struggle. Originally… ![“The work had its own history of struggle. Originally intended as a showpiece for pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, it was dismissed by that renowned pianist as “worthless, absolutely unplayable.” His critical attack was stinging. “An outsider, dropping into the room,” claimed Tchaikovsky, “would have…” quote by Stuart Isacoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/stuart-isacoff-36005_history_the-work-had-its-own-history-of-struggle_2354001.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/stuart-isacoff-36005_history_the-work-had-its-own-history-of-struggle_2354001.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/stuart-isacoff-36005_history_the-work-had-its-own-history-of-struggle_2354001.jpg) > ““The work had its own history of struggle. Originally intended as a showpiece for pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, it was dismissed by that renowned pianist as “worthless, absolutely unplayable.” His critical attack was stinging. “An outsider, dropping into the room,” claimed Tchaikovsky, “would have thought me a madman, without talent, ignorant, a worthless writer who had come to annoy a famous musician with his rubbish.” After Rubinstein bowed out, the music was premiered instead in Boston by Hans von Bülow.”” [Stuart Isacoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-isacoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A work dismissed as impossible can later be celebrated when given a chance, showing the value of perseverance and fresh perspectives. **In simple terms:** Don’t judge art by first impressions. Key Takeaway Give ideas a second look. Themes art perseverance innovation Mood reflective hopeful Type historical analytical When to use this quote - concert programming - art education - creative industries - product development - academic research Key Concepts music history creative risk critical reception Questions to Reflect On - How might you reassess a dismissed idea? - What conditions allow a work to be re‑evaluated? A Different Perspective Initial rejection may stem from bias or fear of change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tchaikovsky/) ## Related quotes > [If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky, they can learn to say Uzoamaka.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzo-aduba/if-they-can-learn-to-say-tchaikovsky-and-michelangelo-and-dostoyevsky/) [Uzo Aduba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzo-aduba/) > [My whole trick is to keep the tune well out in front. If I play Tchaikovsky, I play his melodies and skip his spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liberace/my-whole-trick-is-to-keep-the-tune-well-out-in-front-if-i-play/) [Liberace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liberace/) > [Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky were not classical musicians while they were alive and active, they were the rock stars of their day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-stein/bach-mozart-beethoven-and-tchaikovsky-were-not-classical-musicians/) [Seymour Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-stein/) > [Roll over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-berry/roll-over-beethoven-tell-tchaikovsky-the-news/) [Chuck Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-berry/) > [I listed to Tchaikovsky. He is both kitsch and profound. I love that lack of "Good taste."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cy-twombly/i-listed-to-tchaikovsky-he-is-both-kitsch-and-profound-i-love-that/) [Cy Twombly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cy-twombly/) > [The only winner in the War of 1812 was Tchaikovsky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-short/the-only-winner-in-the-war-of-1812-was-tchaikovsky/) [Solomon Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-short/) > [On the corner of 57th and 7th Avenue sits the most famous concert hall in the world. No less a figure than when Tchaikovsky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-slatkin/on-the-corner-of-57th-and-7th-avenue-sits-the-most-famous-concert/) [Leonard Slatkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-slatkin/) > [I usually listen to the same thing over and over again: Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major. And Leonard Cohen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-townsend/i-usually-listen-to-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again-tchaikovsky-s/) [Sue Townsend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-townsend/) > [“He had always wanted to write music, and he could give no other identity to the thing he sought. If you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/he-had-always-wanted-to-write-music-and-he-could-give-no-other/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A friend gave me a CD of the 'Pathetique' Symphony as a Christmas present. I went home, and I put on the CD expecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustavo-dudamel/a-friend-gave-me-a-cd-of-the-pathetique-symphony-as-a-christmas/) [Gustavo Dudamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustavo-dudamel/) > [I love anything by Tchaikovsky. 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Dr. Gottfried Schlaug of Beth Israel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-isacoff/recent-breakthroughs-in-the-field-of-neuro-science-have-shown-that/) [Stuart Isacoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-isacoff/) > [“To the young among his admirers, he was the fresh face of an emerging, better world; to the old, a balm for the pain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-isacoff/to-the-young-among-his-admirers-he-was-the-fresh-face-of-an-emerging/) [Stuart Isacoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-isacoff/) > [“Though his rivals at the competition were well trained, there was something different about Van’s art. 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But by 1798,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-isacoff/the-handful-of-leading-craftsmen-turning-out-pianos-during-that-time/) [Stuart Isacoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-isacoff/) > [“Peterson revealed that he had decided the only way to get attention was “to frighten the hell out of everybody pianistically.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-isacoff/peterson-revealed-that-he-had-decided-the-only-way-to-get-attention/) [Stuart Isacoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-isacoff/) > [“They include conceptual artist and “environmental music” composer Annea Lockwood, who created a work entitled Piano Burning. 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They had excellent training, but the result lacked freshness and poetry.” That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-isacoff/the-soviet-performers-felt-that-every-note-had-to-be-strictly/) [Stuart Isacoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-isacoff/) > [“The Moscow audience had of course heard it many times before, but Van’s interpretation was extraordinary. The work’s thundering octaves and delicate filigree were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-isacoff/the-moscow-audience-had-of-course-heard-it-many-times-before-but-van/) [Stuart Isacoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-isacoff/) [Explore all 13 Stuart Isacoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-isacoff/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. 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It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) C-DASH > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The work had its own history of struggle. Originally intended as a showpiece for pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, it was dismissed by that renowned pianist as “worthless, absolutely unplayable.” His critical attack was stinging. “An outsider, dropping into the room,” claimed Tchaikovsky, “would have thought me a madman, without talent, ignorant, a worthless writer who had come to annoy a famous musician with his rubbish.” After Rubinstein bowed out, the music was premiered instead in Boston by Hans von Bülow.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stuart Isacoff" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-isacoff/the-work-had-its-own-history-of-struggle-originally-intended-as-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-isacoff/the-work-had-its-own-history-of-struggle-originally-intended-as-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/stuart-isacoff-36005_history_the-work-had-its-own-history-of-struggle_2354001.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/stuart-isacoff-36005_history_the-work-had-its-own-history-of-struggle_2354001.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68d/stuart-isacoff-36005_history_the-work-had-its-own-history-of-struggle_2354001.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The work had its own history of struggle. 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