…that sometimes even the best talents and greatest minds are prone to the odd – let’s put it this way – bad day. Like the rest of us, complaining and being in a strop sometimes is just normal human behaviour. How reassuring!
As a couple of composers here at toneQuote, we enjoy coming across quotes from the great musicians when they’re having a whiny moment – and here are just a few of our favourites.

1. “If I decide to be an idiot, then I’ll be an idiot of my own accord” – JS Bach

2. “If there is anyone here whom I haven’t insulted, then I beg his pardon- Johannes Brahms

3. “My music is best understood by children and animals” – Igor Stravinsky

4. “I’m sure my music has a taste of codfish in it” – Edvard Grieg

5. “Music making as a means of getting money is hell” – Gustav Holst

And they weren’t shy at making digs about other composers:

6. “Vivaldi did not write 500 concertos… he wrote the same concerto 500 times” – Igor Stravinsky

7. “I’m told that Wagner’s music isn’t as bad as it sounds” – Gustav Mahler

8. “Handel strikes me as so fourth rate that he’s not even interesting” – Tchaikovsky

9. “Schoenberg would be better shovelling snow than scribbling on manuscript paper” – Richard Strauss

10. “Though I had some instuction from Haydn I never learned anything from him”  – Beethoven

So there we are. We can all fell a bit better when we’re having one of those days!