Stravinsky is masterly: his harmony is conceived so precisely that it can only be the way it is.

I always had, deep down, a slight aversion toward the purely cerebral in music.

The philharmonic became such a journey and adventure in my life, and a deeply satisfying thing.

The music I turn out these days is the kind of music I want to hear myself.

You know, in some ways conducting is counter-intuitive. It's like winter driving in Finland - if you skid, the natural reaction is to fight with the wheel and jam on the brakes, which is the quickest way to get killed. What you have to do is let go, and the car will right itself. It's the same when an orchestra loses its ensemble. You have to resist the temptation to semaphore, and let the orchestra find its own way back to the pulse.

I think if you would like to describe composing as an act with one word, "slow" would be the word.

The Northern idea of form is more of a process. The various units of the form overlap. You can't tell where some things stop and new things start. This is typical of Sibelius.