When I dealt with set theory, I could never make it be the music that I wanted.

My attitude to writing is like when you do wallpapering, you remember where all the little bits are that don't meet. And then your friends say: It's terrific!

When I was confronted with official tuition, the academic thing, I could see no relationship whatever between that and the music I'd been writing since I was 11.

I don't think there is much American music.

It's the irrational things that interest me.

This sounds horribly pretentious, but I like to think that if music hadn't existed, I could have invented it.

People say my music is English. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's not me writing English music, but that English music is becoming more like me.