The enormity of the universe revealed by science cannot readily be grasped by the human brain, but the music of The Planets enables the mind to acquire some comprehension of the vastness of space where rational understanding fails.

I’ve learned what ‘classical’ means. It means something that sings and dances through sheer joy of existence.

Music-making as a means of getting money is hell

Never compose anything unless the not composing of it becomes a positive nuisance to you.

Failure is the most important part of an artist's training, and one you cannot afford to do without.

Music, being identical with heaven, isn't a thing of momentary thrills, or even hourly ones. It's a condition of eternity.

There is no room in music for the second-rate - it might just as well be the nineteenth-rate.