I never am sea sick, never. I am sea drunk!

Music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all. Music expresses itself.

The further one separates himself from the precepts of the Christian Church, the further one distances himself from the truth. Only God can create. I make music from music.

Old age is a time of humiliations, the most disagreeable of which, for me, is that I cannot work long at sustained high pressure with no leaks in concentration.

In order to create there must be a dynamic force, and what force is more potent than love?

Composers combine notes, that's all.

The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one