--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Bach and Beethoven, all of them, they had…" description: "\"Bach and Beethoven, all of them, they had to write something to please the upper structure, those with money and power.\" — Sun Ra" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/sun-ra-10748_money_bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had_2154846.jpg" --- # Bach and Beethoven, all of them, they had to write… ![“Bach and Beethoven, all of them, they had to write something to please the upper structure, those with money and power.” quote by Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/sun-ra-10748_money_bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had_2154846.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/sun-ra-10748_money_bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had_2154846.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/sun-ra-10748_money_bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had_2154846.jpg) > “Bach and Beethoven, all of them, they had to write something to please the upper structure, those with money and power.” [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists often tailor their work to satisfy patrons or those in power, influencing creative choices. **In simple terms:** Creators sometimes write to please wealthy sponsors. Key Takeaway Balance artistic integrity with patron expectations. Themes art patronage creativity power dynamics Mood reflective critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - gallery exhibition - funded project - media production - public performance Key Concepts commissioned work political influence Questions to Reflect On - Who decides what art is valuable? - How does funding affect artistic freedom? A Different Perspective Compromising vision can dilute originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bach/) [Bach Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bach-beethoven-4546190/) [Beethoven Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beethoven-write-3567289/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Money and power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money-and-power/) [Please](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/please/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/structure/) [Upper Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upper-structure-4546191/) [Write Upper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-upper-4546189/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Perhaps Bach and Beethoven are strange bedfellows for Mickey Mouse, but it's all been a lot of fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/perhaps-bach-and-beethoven-are-strange-bedfellows-for-mickey-mouse/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [If Beethoven could write his 'Eroica Symphony' stone deaf, then William Wyler can do a musical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wyler/if-beethoven-could-write-his-eroica-symphony-stone-deaf-then-william/) [William Wyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wyler/) > [Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/beethoven-can-write-music-thank-god-but-he-can-do-nothing-else-on/) [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/) > [Listening to Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven while I write. Its not fair to just call it music; its audible emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/listening-to-moonlight-sonata-by-beethoven-while-i-write-its-not-fair/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [“The real power in America is held by a fast-emerging new Oligarchy of pimps and preachers who see no need for Democracy or fairness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/the-real-power-in-america-is-held-by-a-fast-emerging-new-oligarchy-of/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [When men have money and power they get turned on, sexually. They get horny as hell. Can't imagine why, though.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-spheeris/when-men-have-money-and-power-they-get-turned-on-sexually-they-get/) [Penelope Spheeris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-spheeris/) > [“Architects mostly work for privileged people, people who have money and power,” Ban said recently. “Power and money are invisible, so people hire us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/architects-mostly-work-for-privileged-people-people-who-have-money-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [First you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-groening/first-you-get-the-sugar-then-you-get-the-power-then-you-get-the-women/) [Matt Groening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-groening/) > [All around the country, individuals are choosing to redefine their lives and the pursuit of happiness in ways much closer to the original notion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/all-around-the-country-individuals-are-choosing-to-redefine-their/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [According to the politics of fantasy, mankind is on the verge of perfectibility, if only we give the government just a little bit more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-knowles/according-to-the-politics-of-fantasy-mankind-is-on-the-verge-of/) [Michael J. Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-knowles/) > [When government does, occasionally, work, it works in an elitist fashion. That is, government is most easily manipulated by people who have money and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/when-government-does-occasionally-work-it-works-in-an-elitist-fashion/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [“For years, Asha had hoped that her daughter wouldn’t guess about the men. Now she wished she had raised Manju to be worldly enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-boo/for-years-asha-had-hoped-that-her-daughter-wouldn-t-guess-about-the/) [Katherine Boo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-boo/) > [Money comes and goes. I'm thankful I have money. I'm trying to save up more. I would like more money. But it's not happiness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dat-phan/money-comes-and-goes-i-m-thankful-i-have-money-i-m-trying-to-save-up/) [Dat Phan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dat-phan/) > [“To live the lives we truly want and deserve, and not just the lives we settle for, we need a Third Metric, a third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/to-live-the-lives-we-truly-want-and-deserve-and-not-just-the-lives-we/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [Architects mostly work for privileged people, people who have money and power, Power and money are invisible, so people hire us to visualize their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shigeru-ban/architects-mostly-work-for-privileged-people-people-who-have-money/) [Shigeru Ban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shigeru-ban/) ## More by Sun Ra > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [Not too many people in America know about me, but all of Europe knows about me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/not-too-many-people-in-america-know-about-me-but-all-of-europe-knows/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [The earth moves in a certain rhythm, a certain sound, a certain note. When the music stops the earth will stop and everything upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/the-earth-moves-in-a-certain-rhythm-a-certain-sound-a-certain-note/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [I'm playing dark history. It's beyond black. I'm dealing with the dark things of the cosmos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/i-m-playing-dark-history-it-s-beyond-black-i-m-dealing-with-the-dark/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [“wings greater than wings wings greater than walls”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/wings-greater-than-wings-wings-greater-than-walls/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [“I have said before that the music is the words and the words are the music It is all there for you to understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/i-have-said-before-that-the-music-is-the-words-and-the-words-are-the/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A prophet is not without honor except in his own country among his own people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/a-prophet-is-not-without-honor-except-in-his-own-country-among-his/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [The possible has been tried and failed. Now it's time to try the impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/the-possible-has-been-tried-and-failed-now-it-s-time-to-try-the/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [I use music as a medium to talk to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/i-use-music-as-a-medium-to-talk-to-people/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [I think of myself as a complete mystery. To myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/i-think-of-myself-as-a-complete-mystery-to-myself/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [It takes a motion to notion and it takes a notion to motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/it-takes-a-motion-to-notion-and-it-takes-a-notion-to-motion/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [The real aim of music is to co-ordinate the minds of the people into an intelligent reach for a better world and an intelligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/the-real-aim-of-music-is-to-co-ordinate-the-minds-of-the-people-into/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [Heaven is where you'll be when you are okay right where you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/heaven-is-where-you-ll-be-when-you-are-okay-right-where-you-are/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [People have set that up as a standard, not to recognize a prophet in his own country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/people-have-set-that-up-as-a-standard-not-to-recognize-a-prophet-in/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [Music is a plane of wisdom, because music is a universal language, it is a language of honor, it is a noble precept, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/music-is-a-plane-of-wisdom-because-music-is-a-universal-language-it/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) [Explore all 63 Sun Ra quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bach/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Bach and Beethoven, all of them, they had to write something to please the upper structure, those with money and power.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sun Ra" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had-to-write-something-to-please/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bach" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had-to-write-something-to-please/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/sun-ra-10748_money_bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had_2154846.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/sun-ra-10748_money_bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had_2154846.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/sun-ra-10748_money_bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had_2154846.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Bach and Beethoven, all of them, they had to write something to please the upper structure, those with money…” — Sun Ra", "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": "Sun Ra", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Bach and Beethoven, all of them,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had-to-write-something-to-please/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/bach-and-beethoven-all-of-them-they-had-to-write-something-to-please/#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 } } ] } ```