[PW] Debussy quote

[Nina Gilbert]

Mike Germroth asks about:

>... a possible Debussy quotation that goes, "I have
these magnificent dreams, 
>and then I have to think about quarter
notes." 


Do you have more context for this?  Might someone have said something like that about Debussy, and then, through something like a slow-motion game of Telephone, it became a quote?  Could it have come from some sort of fictionalized biography?

I see the quote here:
espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv.php?pid=UQ:12754&dsID=CreativeProcessLifeCycle.pdf

-- not a music site, that document uses the presumed quote to make a motivational point.  I don't know if that document originates in Australia, where "quarter notes" are usually called "crotchets."  French for "quarter note" is "noire."

Based on my former career as a music professor, I would guess it's either apocryphal or extremely paraphrased.

Hope this helps,

Nina Gilbert
Education and Community Programs Manager, Boston Lyric Opera



------------------------------------------------
Nina Gilbert
ninagilbert at yahoo.com



----- Original Message ----
From: Mike Germroth <mgermroth at mcls.org>
To: list at project-wombat.org
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 8:28:32 PM
Subject: [PW] Debussy quote

Dear Stumpers folks,

Sorry to bother you all, but our normal subscriber and poster, Shari Haber, is out recovering from abdominal surgery, so I thought I would post a question.  (Please reply to my email below, if you can).

We are looking for a possible Debussy quotation that goes, "I have these magnificent dreams, and then I have to think about quarter notes."  I looked in the standard quote books, music quote books, and a book of Debussy letters with no luck.  

I also emailed the American Library in Paris to see if they know of a French Debussy society/club/library, since there apparently is not one in the US.

Has anyone heard of this quote?  Might it be from another composer?  Any help/ideas would be appreciated.

Mike Germroth
MCLS Reference Center Supervisor
mgermroth at mcls.org
(213) 228-7575
(213) 228-7579 FAX
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