Whereas most other modern composers are engaged in manufacturing cocktails of every hue and description, I offer the public pure cold water.
Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.
If I could express the same thing with words as with music, I would, of course, use a verbal expression. Music is something autonomous and much richer. Music begins where the possibilities of language end. That is why I write music.
Music begins where the possibilities of language end.
If you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.
Music is, for me, like a beautiful mosaic which God has put together. He takes all the pieces in his hand, throws them into the world, and we have to recreate the picture from the pieces.
Music is on a higher plane than everything else in this world.
Musicians talk of nothing but money and jobs. Give me businessmen every time. They really are interested in music and art.
If we understood the world, we would realize that there is a logic of harmony underlying its manifold apparent dissonances.
I often conduct an orchestra in my sleep; my orchestras are so huge that the back desks of the violas vanish into the horizon. And everything is so wonderful.
For me, music begins where words end.
It is so difficult to mix with artists! You must choose business men to talk to, because artists only talk of money.
The framework of a symphony must be so strong that it forces you to follow it, regardless of the environment and circumstances.
No one ever erected a statue of a critic.
No statue has ever been put up to a critic.