“Just as the poet holds his monologue or dialogue in a certain continuing rhythm, the person reciting, however, for the sure comprehension of the meaning, must make breaks and pauses at points where the poet could show it with his punctuation; this way of reciting is also applicable in music.

By observing the lengths and shortness, the melodic course in the passage becomes apparent; without observing these, every passage loses its significance.”

“To understand music in its nature, you need rhythm of the mind, it provides knowledge, inspiration of heavenly sciences.”

“What I have heard presented by Beethoven, was, with few exceptions, always free of force in tempo; a “tempo rubato” in the actual meaning of the word, as content and situation required, but without being the least reminiscent of a caricature.”

“With Brahms an entirely independent rhythmical division interweaves the metrical, thought through and systematically, and reaches almost equal legitimacy, so that there is a clear shaped rhythmical beat beside and in the metrical.”

“But all academic music is played through metronomically, and thus, the true rhythmical art of classicism is taken from it.”

“It is only the finest nuance conceivable of variations between movement and time in every conceivable outline of shape at all.
And as this is the nature of world harmony, music is only of universal value if it is built up on this principle of similarity to life, of true classicism.”

“To this blind audience, the proportionality of harmonious development is incomprehensible as far as technicality and tempo are concerned.
The truth of harmony is never true enough to them, except if it is a strong hint.

Keynote, third, fifth and octave are called harmony, that is also the beginning and the end, the ruling spirit of composing. That this is the real, good, beautiful thing in composing - they all admit that, simply, because they sensibly have to.

But to say that the same proportionalising truth should also apply to the technicality and tempo, that this eternal light of life must create the artistic act - no, that is too high for them! They do not want to accept such religion, such a heaven of conscious creation.

Thus, they hang a metronome from their ears, lock their reason into an iron case, and put the purse on top; then they sit down at the piano to practise their technical exercises, to do their analysing lessons, which they will never be able to use for musical expression - but they do not know that.”

“If the mind is not captured by the power of expression, by the lively colours, which only the harmonical person is capable of, then this mind is not completely satisfied …Only harmony can produce emotions.
It is the only source from which melody emerges direct, and receives its powers. Feeling does not know pre-determined rhyth-ms, and can therefore not be forced everywhere into a regular beat, without losing truthfulness, which constitutes its appeal.
In beat and rhythm lies the musical expression of the physical, that which produces emotions, however, originates from harmony and its results, a fact, we should carefully take into account, before deciding, what keeps the balance…In music the ear only obeys nature. It neither considers beat nor size. It is guided exclusively by instinct.”

“In contrast, with all effort, nothing good can be done without adequate feeling. As soon as you bind yourself slavishly to the beat with your treble, the tempo loses its character, as all other voices must be carried out strictly to the beat.”