The Church knew what the psalmist knew: Music praises God. Music is well or better able to praise him than the building of the church and all its decoration; it is the Church's greatest ornament.

I know that the twelve notes in each octave and the variety of rhythm offer me opportunities that all of human genius will never exhaust.

I am an inventor of 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.

My childhood was a period of waiting for the moment when I could send everyone and everything connected with it to hell.

Composers combine notes, that's all.

I take no pride in my artistic talents; they are God-given and I see absolutely no reason to become puffed up over something that one has received.