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.'

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.

Composers should write tunes that chauffeurs and errand boys can whistle.

Composers should write tunes that chauffeurs and errand boys can whistle.

Musical people always want one to be perfectly dumb at the very moment when one is longing to be perfectly read more

Musical people always want one to be perfectly dumb at the very moment when one is longing to be perfectly deaf.

Composers shouldn't think too much -- it interferes with their plagiarism.

Composers shouldn't think too much -- it interferes with their plagiarism.

The high note is not the only thing.

The high note is not the only thing.

Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence.

Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence.

Music never dies. Do we really need another Madonna tour? Does she have to compete with women performers 25 years read more

Music never dies. Do we really need another Madonna tour? Does she have to compete with women performers 25 years her junior

Music is the art of thinking with sounds.

Music is the art of thinking with sounds.