I was...attacked for being a pasticheur, chided for composing "simple" music, blamed for deserting "modernism," accused of renouncing my "true Russian heritage." People who had never heard of, or cared about, the originals cried "sacrilege": "The classics are ours. Leave the classics alone." To them all my answer was and is the same: You "respect," but I love.

To be deprived of art and left alone with philosophy is to be close to Hell.

Money may kindle, but it cannot by itself, and for very long, burn.

Vivaldi didn't write 400 concertos; he wrote one concerto 400 times.

A composer is not only an architect but also an inventor, and he should not build houses in which he cannot live.

The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one

Just as appetite comes by eating, so work brings inspiration, if inspiration is not discernible at the beginning.