Vocal Quotes
More Vocal Quotes
History teaches us that a given view has been abandoned in favor of another by all men, or by all competent men, or perhaps by only the most vocal men; it does not teach us whether the change was sound or whether the rejected view deserved to be rejected. Only an impartial analysis of the view in question, an analysis that is not dazzled by the victory or stunned by the defeat of the adherents of the view concerned could teach us anything regarding the worth of the view and hence regarding the meaning of the historical change.
leo strauss— p. 19 (Natural Right and History (1953))
There was nothing wrong with her that a vasectomy of the vocal chords wouldn't fix.
lisa alther— Kinflicks, ch. 4 (1976).
As far as vocal preparation goes, it’s really an interesting thing for such a fragile instrument and using it properly is like walking a tightrope. I have learned not to do extensive warm-ups. It’s really more of a cerebral mind-body connection Zen hippy thing, just knowing your body and figuring out if I do that then I will be able to speak tomorrow.
davey havok— On singing. Southern Courier, February 2010
Mussorgsky, in his vocal efforts, appears wilfully eccentric. His style impresses the Western ear as barbarously ugly.
modest mussorgsky— Edward Dannreuther The Oxford History of Music (Oxford: Clarendon, 1905) vol. 6, p. 321 [2]
Laughing at the clueless mouthfarts of cute twenty somethings who spent their high-school years with vocal coaches or plastic surgeons is another variation on the theme "Are we getting dumber?"
laura penny— Chapter six, More is Less, p. 184
Yet, like so many of the D'Oyly Carte principals, he makes up in enthusiasm what he lacks in vocal prowess.
john reed— Stereo Review, Volume 39? (1977).
Bright gem instinct with music, vocal spark.
william wordsworth— A Morning Exercise.
Let the singing singers With vocal voices, most vociferous, In sweet vociferation out-vociferize Even sound itself.
henry carey— Act i. Sc. 1.
It saddens me that a historic event like this is being misconstrued by a small but vocal group of critics trying to spread the notion that the UN gathering is really the work of radicals and atheists bent on destroying our families.
hillary clinton— "China, UN Seek to Put Conference Back on Track" (Reuters: September 4, 1995)
It does seem quite ironic to me that the very people who clearly have made no attempt to think for themselves are always the most vocal in demanding respect for their "ideas".
pat condell— YouTube video (March 16, 2007); from YouTube)
Vytautas Juozapaitis' Don Giovanni filled the performance. The singer won the audience not only with his impeccable impersonation of the gallantly vicious philanderer, but also with his vocal rendition that didn't leave any of the listener's desires unfulfilled.
vytautas juozapaitis— Stephan Thomas, "Laue Sommernacht für Don Giovanni". Solothurner Zeitung (July 16, 2005)
Some of the most vocal critics of the way things are being done are people who have done nothing themselves, and whose only contributions to society are their complaints and moral exhibitionism.
thomas sowell— Thomas Sowell (2005-10-15). Random Thoughts. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
We dance to ghazals (Urdu poems), thumris (a genre of semi-classical Indian music) and taranas (a type of Hindustani classical vocal music). There is also a spontaneity and subtle ‘abhinaya’ about Kathak. We usually dance to the syllables of tabla and pakhawaj hence there is a lot of intricate footwork,
— By Shila Mehta quoted in "Kathak has a Flexible Language."
The identity of any dance is incomplete without the music that accompanies it. The unique raga tala pattern of Sattriya music, the two categories of Sattriya vocal (raga based and light ), variations of presentation for different occasions at different sattras, musical instruments, as also unique features such as Gayan Bayan who sing, dance and initiate a traditional Sattriya performance.
— Chitra Visweswaran in "Dance as a daily offering."
The bells of Ryleston seemed to say, While she sat listening in the shade, With vocal music, "God us ayde!" And all the hills were glad to bear Their part in this effectual prayer.
william wordsworth— William Wordsworth, White Doe of Rylstone, Canto VII, Stanza 11.
History teaches us that a given view has been abandoned in favor of another by all men, or by all competent men, or perhaps by only the most vocal men; it does not teach us whether the change was sound or whether the rejected view deserved to be rejected. Only an impartial analysis of the view in question, an analysis that is not dazzled by the victory or stunned by the defeat of the adherents of the view concerned could teach us anything regarding the worth of the view and hence regarding the meaning of the historical change.
leo strauss— Leo Strauss, Natural Right and History (1953), p. 19
In general, Karnatak music is characterized and structured by a great degree of precision and rigidity in framework and is based on a strictly organized system. The percentage of fixed compositions rendered by artists is also relatively high in Karnatak music...embellishments on fixed compositions is one of the prime elements of a Karnatak musical performance. Further in Karnatak system instrumental music very closely follows the vocal pattern.
Vijaya Moorthy— "Romance of the Raga" (pp. 42-44)
Mussorgsky, in his vocal efforts, appears wilfully eccentric. His style impresses the Western ear as barbarously ugly.
— Edward Dannreuther The Oxford History of Music (Oxford: Clarendon, 1905) vol. 6, p. 321 [2]
Now, as the inferior animals were all in being before man, there was language upon earth long ere the history of our race commenced. The only additional fact in the history of language, which was produced by our creation, was the rise of a new mode of expression namely that by sound-signs produced by the vocal organs. In other words, speech was the only novelty in this respect attending the creation of the human race.
— p.311 (Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation (1844))
My greatest teacher was not a vocal coach, not the work of other singers, but the wayTommy Dorsey breathed and phrased on the trombone.
— Foreword to GeorgeT SimonThe Big Bands (1967).
