Rachmaninoff speaks: "I have no sympathy with the composer who produces works according to pre-conceived formulas or theories. Or with the composer who writes

Rachmaninoff speaks: "I have no sympathy with the composer who produces works according to pre-conceived formulas or theories. Or with the composer who writes in a certain style because it is the fashion to do so. Great music has never been produced in that way – and I dare say it never will. ...I say again and again that music must first and foremost be loved; it must come from the heart and must be directed to the heart. Otherwise, it cannot hope to be lasting, indestructible art. ...it is my own pet belief that, if you have something important to say, you don’t need a new language in which to say it. The old language is sufficiently rich and resourceful. The young composers make the mistake of believing that you achieve originality through technique. Actually, the only originality worth achieving is that which comes from substance. A composer can use all the accepted tools of composition and produce a work far different in style and subject matter from any ever produced, because he has put into music his own personality and experiences." p.s. The article doesn't mention what Rachmaninoff thought his greatest work, the choral symphony The Bells. My favourite version, conducted by Kiril Kondrashin, Moscow 1963, video with full score: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4b08aVZn0w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4b08aVZn0w