Music Is The Arithmetic Of Sounds As

When Asked By A Grumpily Puzzled Professor What "rules" He Followed, Debussy Is Said To Have Retorted, Mon Plaisir "whatever I Please" And He Further Claimed That More Was To Be Gained By Watching The Sun Rise Than By Listening To The Pastoral Symphony. Although Such Remarks Were Intended To Shock, They Contain A Core Of Debussyan Verity.

Some People Wish Above All To Conform To The Rules, I Wish Only To Render What I Can Hear.

There Is No Theory. You Merely Have To Listen. Pleasure Is The Law.

The Music I Desire Must Be Supple Enough To Adapt Itself To The Lyrical Effusions Of The Soul And The Fantasy Of Dreams.

How Much Has To Be Explored And Discarded Before Reaching The Naked Flesh Of Feeling.