Constant Lambert Quote

The composer is now faced, not with further experiment but with the more difficult task of consolidating the experiments of this vertiginous period. He is like a man in a high-powered motor-car that has got out of control. He must either steer it away from the cliff's edge back to the road or leap out of it altogether. Most modern composers have chosen the latter plan, remarking, as they dexterously save their precious lives: "I think motor-cars are a little vieux jeu – don't you?"


"The Age of Pastiche", p. 70. - Music, Ho! (1934)


The composer is now faced, not with further experiment but with the more difficult task of consolidating the experiments of this vertiginous period....

The composer is now faced, not with further experiment but with the more difficult task of consolidating the experiments of this vertiginous period....

The composer is now faced, not with further experiment but with the more difficult task of consolidating the experiments of this vertiginous period....

The composer is now faced, not with further experiment but with the more difficult task of consolidating the experiments of this vertiginous period....