Eating, loving, singing, and digesting are, in truth, the four acts of the comic opera known as life, and they pass like bubbles of a bottle of champagne. Whoever lets them break without having enjoyed them is a complete fool.

Wagner has lovely moments but awful quarters of an hour.

Beethoven I take twice a week, Haydn four times, and Mozart every day.

Eating, loving, singing, and digesting are, in truth, the four acts of the comic opera known as life, and they pass like bubbles of a bottle of champagne. Whoever lets them break without having enjoyed them is a complete fool.

Nothing primes inspiration more than necessity, whether it be the presence of a copyist waiting for your work or the prodding of an impresario tearing his hair.

The language of music is common to all generations and nations; it is understood by everybody, since it is understood with the heart.

Music is a kind of harmonious language.