Christian Tetzlaff Quotes & Sayings

Most of the time, we try to tell ourselves "I'm confident" or "I'm doing well." But then, in a moment alone at home, you feel how close you are to some kind of abyss. — Christian Tetzlaff

Many of us can maybe sometimes imagine sounds, or have some musical ideas. But to have them consistenly building whole works, and to have the means of transforming something that's in your ear into handcrafted written notes that give back what you heard and what you felt - I find it just utterly miraculous. — Christian Tetzlaff

This was the book I read over and over. I really felt so in tune with them- I knew all the dates of their lives, what they had been doing, whre they had been. They were always my heroes, creating something fantastic against all odds, and against their real life. — Christian Tetzlaff

Music, even at terrible moments, can make you accept so much more- accept your dark sides, or the things that happened to you. Maybe it's just because you see that we are not alone. And that's what the concert situation is about for me, when I'm sitting in the hall and also when I'm playing myself. It's about communication - I almost want to say 'communion'. As a player, you really don't interpret anymore. You listen, together, with the audience. — Christian Tetzlaff

Performing music is the job that has the most to do with the belief in the existence of a soul. I deal in Berg's soul, in Brahm's soul- that's my job. And you can can challenge me, but I find that music is humans' most advanced achievement, more so than painting and writing, because it's more mysterious, more magical, and it acts in such a direct way. Trying to turn lead into gold is nothing compared to taking something mechanical like an instrument- a string and a bow- and using it to evoke a human soul, perserved through the centuries. — Christian Tetzlaff