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Yehudi Menuhin

41 quotes

“Obliged to find an apartment of their own, my parents searched the neighbourhood and chose one within walking distance of the park. Showing them out after they had viewed it, the landlady said: "And you'll be glad to know I don't take Jews." Her mistake made clear to her, the antisemitic landlady was renounced, and another apartment found. But her blunder left its mark. Back on the street my mother made a vow. Her unborn baby would have a label proclaiming his race to the world. He would be called "The Jew" [Yehudi].”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999)", Issue 372, New Internationalist
“This wasteful governing by fear, by contempt for the basic dignities of life, this steady asphyxiation of a dependent people, should be the very last means to be adopted by those who themselves know too well the awful significance, the unforgettable suffering of such an existence. It is unworthy of my great people, the Jews, who have striven to abide by a code of moral rectitude for some 5,000 years, who can create and achieve a society for themselves such as we see around us but can yet deny the sharing of its great qualities and benefits to those dwelling amongst them.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) first seen 1988 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From "Americans for Justice in the Middle East", A J M E News, Volumes 14-17 (1988), p. 30
“Actually, I was gazing in my usual state of being half absent in my own world and half in the present. I have usually been able to 'retire' in this way. I was also thinking that my life was tied up with the instrument and would I do it justice?”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in Kevin Hindle, Kim Klyver Handbook of Research on New Venture Creation, Edward Elgar Publishing (1 January 2011), p. 79
“Music creates order out of chaos: for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent, melody imposes continuity upon the disjointed, and harmony imposes compatibility upon the incongruous.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in Jamesh A. Leit, George Whalley Symboles Dans la Vie Et Dans L'art, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP (1987), p. 29
“The violinist is that peculiarly human phenomenon distilled to a rare potency - half tiger, half poet.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: The compleat violinist: thoughts, exercises, reflections of an itinerant violinist, Summit Books (1 April 1986), p. 95
“To play great music, you must keep your eyes on a distant star.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: Rene J. Smith The Spirit of Flight, Peter Pauper Press, Inc., 15 January 2012, p. 30
“I can only think of music as something inherent in every human being - a birthright. Music coordinates mind, body and spirit.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in: Dream It. List It. Do It!: How to Live a Bigger & Bolder Life, from the Life List Experts at 43Things.com, Workman Publishing (25 December 2008), p. 98
“The violinist must possess the poet's gift of piercing the protective hide which grows on propagandists, stockbrokers and slave traders, to penetrate the deeper truth which lies within.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in The complete violinist: thoughts, exercises, reflections of an itinerant violinist, Summit Books (1 April 1986), p. 95
“I would hate to think I am not an amateur. An amateur is one who loves what he is doing. Very often, I'm afraid, the professional hates what he is doing. So, I'd rather be an amateur.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in: The compleat violinist: thoughts, exercises, reflections of an itinerant violinist, Summit Books (1 April 1986), p. 79
“We embark unhesitatingly on the path, in a direction that is absolutely right and urgent, supported by everyone, in the knowledge that this path is but a learning process... We have to keep on learning, creating, applying, by-passing, touching upon, refining and clarifying a number of notions and details that need to be improvised and applied and which, thank God, we cannot foresee. The only rigidity lies in our will, our conviction that we are on the right road and that our initiatives are most pressing.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in Jacob Bergen The Mandate, Xulon Press (1 June 2006), p. 33
“Peace may sound simple — one beautiful word — but it requires everything we have, every quality, every strength, every dream, every high ideal.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in U S Congress Congressional Record, V. 151, PT. 6, April 21, 2005 to May 5, 2005, Government Printing Office (2009), p. 7471
“The art of creation lies in the gift of perceiving the particular and generalizing it, thus creating the particular again. It is therefore a powerful transforming force and a generator of creative solutions in relation to a given problem. It is the currency of human exchanges, which enables the sharing of states of the soul and conscience, and the discovery of new fields of experience.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What guides us is children's response, their joy in learning to dance, to sing, to live together. It should be a guide to the whole world.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in Tessa Souter Anything I Can Do... You Can Do Better: How to unlock your creative dreams and change your life, Random House (31 July 2011), p. 156
“Each human being has the eternal duty of transforming what is hard and brutal into a subtle and tender offering, what is crude into refinement, what is ugly into beauty, ignorance into knowledge, confrontation into collaboration, thereby rediscovering the child’s dream of a creative reality incessantly renewed by death, the servant of life, and by life the servant of love.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Homeopathy is the safest and more reliable approach to ailments and has withstood the assaults of established medical practice for over 100 years.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in Monica Troughton Magical menopause: Relief and remedies for the symptoms of menopause, Infinite Ideas, (24 January 2007), p. 89
“There were other gurus and other lessons, but not until I met Iyengar did I take up the study regularly. My first meeting with him was like the casting of a spell. We made each other's acquaintance in Mumbai. He appeared in my rooms one morning and straightaway made it clear that the "audition" to follow was mine as much as his. For all my celebrity, to him I was just another Western body knotted through and through.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“First and foremost, yoga made its contribution to my quest to understand consciously the mechanics of violin playing, a quest which by 1951 had long been one of the themes of my life. All influences pointed to less tension, more effective application of energy, the breaking down of resistance in every joint, the coordination of all motions into one motion; and illustrated the profound truth that strength comes not from strength but from the subtle comprehension of process, proportion and balance.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in The Dawn of Indian Music in the West, A&C Black (24 April 2006), p. 46
“We in the Western world have grown to understand matter as imprisoned light, and light as liberated matter, yet this has had no influence on our spiritual thought. In practical terms it only led to the creation of the atom bomb.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in Sushama Londhe A Tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and Wisdom Spanning Continents and Time about India and Her Culture, Pragun Publications (2008), p. 341
“When I was a boy no one seemed to ask where the energies come from. Land, oil, coal, air seemed inexhaustible. Now we are realizing how our very life depends upon restoring not only our balance with nature, but also that balance within ourselves. We are depleting our reserves of spirit, health, courage and faith at an alarming rate. The quiet practice of yoga is, in its humble yet effective way, an antidote.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That India should offer me at once a homeland and a new-found land with lasting power to astonish seemed only right, for it is precisely the reconciling of contradictions Within an all-accepting unity that is the country's genius and its abiding appeal to me. India, I feel, has softened my Talmudical adjudications between right and wrong, upheld innocent acceptance of the lovely things of life, given me much that was new yet welcome, understandable, waiting to experienced.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Despite predisposition in India's favor, I have to acknowledge that Indian music took me by surprise. I knew neither its nature nor its richness, but here, if anywhere, I found vindication of my conviction that India was the original source.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've had marvelous and incredible luck, and devoted parents, sisters, friends, and teachers. What more can one ask? These things contribute enormously. Probably the major part of one's success is due to these factors.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As stated in his interview with Martyn Lewis in Lewis' book, Reflections on Success (1997)
“Why is compassion not part of our established curriculum, an inherent part of our education? Compassion, awe, wonder, curiosity, exaltation, humility — these are the very foundation of any real civilization, no longer the prerogatives, the preserves of any one church, but belonging to everyone, every child in every home, in every school.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Just for Animals; cited in Andrea Wiebers and David Wiebers Souls Like Ourselves (Rochester, MN: Sojourn Press, 2000), p. 16.
“Working with no other orchestra gave me as much satisfaction as my work, as soloist and conductor, with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Yehudi Menuhin, O orkiestrze Sinfonia Varsovia [About Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra], 29 August 1991, "Studio" 1992, vol. 1, p. 8.
“It was a true inspiration to spend as much time with them [Sinfonia Varsovia] as possible, to enjoy the deep satisfaction I derive from our music-making together.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many people do not realise that it takes considerably more art and skill to play the violin lightly than it does to play it loudly. Indeed, the best possible training for young violinists is learning to play pianissimo and without pressure.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In playing Beethoven the violinist should be a medium. There is little that is personal or that can be reduced to ingratiating sounds, pleasing slides and so on. Everything is dictated by the significance, the weight, structure and direction of the notes and passages themselves.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is absolutely vital to hold it as lightly as possible - rather as one might pick up a newborn bird.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One should feel in the right arm the vibration of the bow hair on the strings. [...] The moment tension or hardness enters into the hand then of course the vibrations will not be felt- they cannot penetrate.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Learning an imposed method seemed not in my nature”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What fascinated my imagination was the tremendous feat, which I felt I should be perfectly able to accomplish.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[At age 7] In eight hours of concentrated practice between my twice-weekly lessons, I memorized the A major and played it for Persinger.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To be an outstanding musician, you have to be very attentive to the smallest detail and willing to have infinite patience in the pursuit of your ideal.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even at the risk of losing all the golden eggs of the future, I had to find out what made the goose lay those eggs”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Undoubtedly I had lost time in balking at scales, arpeggios. [...] There is an advantage in establishing the top story of one's constructions first: One has seen the heights; one knows what one is building for and what must be sustained.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The best teacher is the one who himself has had to struggle to learn.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I imagine that whatever contribution I can make to teaching derives from having had to rethink and re-create my technique.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The teacher offers guidance here and there, but the primary factor, the driving force, in your relationship and work together is the student's own commitment and desire to learn. Teaching is like sailing: The wind and the sails give the boat its motion. Your role (as a teacher) is to steer and guide.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The idea that a pupil is a passive recipient, a container waiting to be filled by the teacher's knowledge and instruction - all this is nonsense. Teaching is a living relationship, of give and take, of mutual learning.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There comes a time when the student turns his back on the teacher. His playing cannot have the necessary security, autonomy, self-faith, or communicative power until he believes his interpretation is his own.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is the best and ultimate purpose of conducting: Not only to lead (the musicians) and keep them together, not only to make their performance easier and simpler, but also to guide them so that they can play as they have always longed to play.”
Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source