I've been called many names like perfectionist, difficult and obsessive. I think it takes obsession, takes searching for the details read more

I've been called many names like perfectionist, difficult and obsessive. I think it takes obsession, takes searching for the details for any artist to be good.

That is what the title of artist means: one who perceives more than his fellows, and who records more than read more

That is what the title of artist means: one who perceives more than his fellows, and who records more than he has seen.

Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments. An artist recreates those aspects of reality read more

Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments. An artist recreates those aspects of reality which represent his fundamental view of man's nature.

You know... that a blank wall is an apalling thing to look at. The wall of a museum - a read more

You know... that a blank wall is an apalling thing to look at. The wall of a museum - a canvas - a piece of film - or a guy sitting in front of a typewriter. Then, you start out to do something - that vague thing called creation. The beginning strikes awe within you.

Who hears music feels his solitude peopled at once.

Who hears music feels his solitude peopled at once.

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is read more

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.

Music is the only language in which you cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing.

Music is the only language in which you cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing.

When I speak of the gifted listener, I am thinking of the nonmusician primarily, of the listener who intends to read more

When I speak of the gifted listener, I am thinking of the nonmusician primarily, of the listener who intends to retain his amateur status. It is the thought of just such a listener that excites the composer in me.

The artist one day falls through a hole in the brambles, and from that moment he is following the dark read more

The artist one day falls through a hole in the brambles, and from that moment he is following the dark rapids of an underground river which may sometimes flow so near to the surface that the laughing picnic parties are heard above.