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

I always write the pieces I want to write.

My operas usually come from musical ideas rather than ideas about subject matter.

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.

One thing I've tried to do in writing music is take on very basic things, very archetypal things.

I think music has gone through a period of something very severe, rather radical, rather the way painting did with cubism.

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