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!

The opera tells the story with all the built-in contradictions and from many different angles.

I wrote music as soon as I knew notation.

I'm not a music lover in the sense that I look for something to have on. I've never had that attitude to music.

The theatre only knows what it's doing next week, not like the opera, where they say: 'What are we going to do in five years' time?' A completely different attitude.

The piece that had a large influence on me was Turangalila.

The thing about influence is that any composer worth anything will give you the same names.