To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.

To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.

No two people on earth are alike, and it's got to be that way in music or it isn't music.

No two people on earth are alike, and it's got to be that way in music or it isn't music.

The high note is not the only thing.

The high note is not the only thing.

I remember being handed a score composed by Mozart at the age of eleven. What could I say? I felt read more

I remember being handed a score composed by Mozart at the age of eleven. What could I say? I felt like de Kooning, who was asked to comment on a certain abstract painting, and answered in the negative. He was then told it was the work of a celebrated monkey. 'That's different. For a monkey, it's terrific.'

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.

Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.

Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.

ext to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.

ext to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.

I need drama in my life to keep making music.

I need drama in my life to keep making music.

It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain: read more

It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature, and everlasting beauty of monotony.