Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.

I've never set out consciously to write American music. I don't know what that would be unless the obvious Appalachian folk references.

When I've seen my operas in Europe, they have always struck me as more American than when I hear them here. I can't tell you what that phenomenon is.

It's amazing how fast generations lose sight of other generations. One of the first things the young composers who come to work with me say is that they want to write music people will like, instead of gaining their credentials by being rejected by the audience.

Anyone who creates something new or does something different artistically is going to be singled out.

I had all the normal interests - I played basketball and I headed the school paper. But I also developed very early a great love for music and literature and the theater.

I found a certain kind of music congenial to me; it never occurred to me to write music that was academically acceptable.