Giuseppe Verdi
Greatest Italian opera composer
Most quoted
"I adore art... when I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds, and the tears stream from my eyes, and my emotion and my inspiration are so great that I have to sing them out loud."
— from Letter, 1871
"I adore art... when I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds and the tears stream from my eyes, and my emotion and my joys are too much to bear."
— from Letter to Countess Maffei, 1875
"Of all composers, past and present, I am the least learned. I mean that in all seriousness, and by learning I do not mean knowledge of music."
— from Letter to Arrivabene, 1871
All quotes by Giuseppe Verdi (398)
I adore art, but I adore it for its own sake, not for the sake of the critics.
I am a peasant, and I will die a peasant.
I love music, but I love it with a passion that consumes me.
Let us return to the old ways, and that will be progress.
The public is always right, even when it is wrong.
I have always tried to serve my country with my art.
I prefer the applause of the public to the praise of the critics.
The composer must be a poet, a dramatist, and a musician.
I have no other ambition than to compose.
Music is the most beautiful of all the arts.
The artist must be a master of his craft.
The theatre is a temple of art.
I have always tried to be original.
Music is a universal language.
I am a simple man, but I have a great passion for music.
I have always tried to create something new.
The theatre is a place of magic.
Music is a powerful force.
I am a man of few words, but I speak through my music.
The artist must be a storyteller.
Contemporaries of Giuseppe Verdi
Other Musics born within 50 years of Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901).