Beecham has been much quoted. In 1929, the editor of a music journal wrote, "The stories gathered around Sir Thomas Beecham are innumerable. Wherever musicians come together, he is likely to be one of the topics of conversation. Everyone telling a Beecham story tries to imitate his manner and his tone of voice."Grew, Sydney. "British Conductors", British Musician and Musical News, June 1929, p. 154 A book, Beecham Stories, was published in 1978 consisting entirely of his bons mots and anecdotes about him.Atkins, passim Some are variously attributed to Beecham or one or more other people, including Arnold Bax and Winston Churchill; Neville Cardus admitted to inventing some himself.Cardus, p. 26 Among the Beecham lines that are reliably attributed are, "A musicologist is a man who can read music but can't hear it";Procter-Gregg, p. 154; and Cardus, p. 75 his maxim, "There are only two things requisite so far as the public is concerned for a good performance: that is for the orchestra to begin together and end together; in between it doesn't matter much";"Jolts and Jars: some wit and wisdom by Sir Thomas Beecham", The Listener, 3 October 1974; also heard on the EMI "Beecham in Rehearsal" disc, EMI CDM 7 64465 2 (1992) and his remark at his 70th birthday celebrations after telegrams were read out from Strauss, Stravinsky and Sibelius: "Nothing from Mozart?"Cardus, p. 125; and Atkins, p. 48
