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Quotes and statements for PhD thesis


MSM

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I have a serious request for ideas from you guys.

In the Dutch tradition of PhD thesis defence, it is common that the thesis is accompanied with so-called 'stellingen'. These are 10 short statements or aphorisms. Most of them will summarize conclusions from the thesis content, but some have to be about scientific fields outside the scope of the thesis, and a few can be made up by the author about life in general, or quoted from elsewhere. They might contain humor as well. The only requirement is that the statement should be scientifically defendable, so no 'subjective statements' like "John Williams is the best" are allowed.

Please post statements and quotes related to John Williams or music in general, which could be used for a PhD thesis.

Some of which I have thought of myself:

- "Only music can make fantasy reality." - John Williams

- Orchestration is one of the most unrecognized/underestimated fields of art.

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Forgive me for not being able to recall the entire quote, but I was always fond of the one when John Williams said something along the lines of "So much is forgotten, even by ourselves". I feel terrible for "butchering" that quote, it really is a good one.

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His chameleon adaptability was a prerequisite to longevity and success in Hollywood. We used to call him Gorgeous. He was the golden boy, a beautiful presence. His music had a freshness, and he had a freshness. - John Williams on Goldsmith.

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Forgive me for not being able to recall the entire quote, but I was always fond of the one when John Williams said something along the lines of "So much is forgotten, even by ourselves". I feel terrible for "butchering" that quote, it really is a good one.

Here's the whole thing:

"So much of what we do is ephemeral and quickly forgotten, even by ourselves, so it's gratifying to have something you have done linger in people's memories."

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- "Only music can make fantasy reality." - John Williams

- Orchestration is one of the most unrecognized/underestimated fields of art.

Both of those actually seem "subjective" to me, or at least hard to prove.

One of my favourites, of course, is what Goldsmith said about his Total Recall score: "There were enough notes in it for a Bruckner symphony". Bit of a raw statement, but the math at least is quite clear.

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- "Only music can make fantasy reality." - John Williams

- Orchestration is one of the most unrecognized/underestimated fields of art.

Both of those actually seem "subjective" to me, or at least hard to prove.

One of my favourites, of course, is what Goldsmith said about his Total Recall score: "There were enough notes in it for a Bruckner symphony". Bit of a raw statement, but the math at least is quite clear.

True, but the first one is really meant as a quote, not so much a scientific statement. The second one could be scientifically fallable, e.g. when some-one would do an investigation among random people about their knowledge of orchestration compared to their knowledge of other art forms.

Also the statements have to have some wit, or should make a point, and therefore might be a bit charged.

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If you're going to do a music-related one, I would suggest your statement about orchestration, since you really seem to be into that.

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This experience ... is all new to me, I've heard of this institution, but I've never been anywhere near it. Amazing to see what's done here.

John Williams on his first visit to a COSTCO Discount Store

"The Classics at Costco," Gina Piccalo and Louise Rolig

Los Angeles Times, February 26 2002

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