So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.

I adore extravagance but I abhor waste.

Composers tend to assume that everyone loves music. Surprisingly enough, everyone doesn’t.

A great symphony is a man-made Mississippi down which we irresistibly flow from the instant of our leave-taking to a long forseen destination.

Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness - I wouldn't know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.

Arthur V. Berger commenting on the music of Aaron Copland: Here is at last an American that we may place unapologetically beside the great recognized creative figures of any other country.

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