Christian Tetzlaff

“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.”

“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.”

“Bach's music confront the player and the audience in a very alone way, and I try at that moment to put away pretensions-in levels of violin playing, pretensions of being a strong man, of being invulnerable- and instead say, 'this is where all of us us have common ground'. 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”

“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.”

“Some may see the tortured existence of the musician as one where he's practicing like hell and being alone, I see it quite differently. Having three children, beautiful as it is, burdens you with terrible things often, with strong decision and sleepless nights. Tis is real life. And then, of course - this is getting into very personal things- I see many ­­­­­­parts of me that are what would be called the "dark side". I had a happy childhood, but what was happening to my family, my parents, and also the dark tings that happpened-between them and where they come from, the war- there is a lot that i could not put in easy words. But it's what most of us carry. It's just whether you have the ability to voice it in the music, whether you allow yourself to be touched by thing , to be receptive to other people, to be in the pain of a composer.”

“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.”

“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.”