My mother's background was Scottish. She came from an old family, some of whom lived in upper New York State and some of whom had come over from Scotland.

There is nothing like practice.

I did all kinds of things in order to earn a living.

I've always regarded nature as the clothing of God.

To me, atonality is against nature. There is a center to everything that exists. The planets have the sun, the earth, the moon.

I think that of my 21 symphonies, each has its own place.

I found a greater identity with my own emotions in the Armenian culture as I grew older, as well as from the beginning, although I didn't know anything about it.