Remember always that the composer's pen is still mightier than the bow of the violinist; in you lie all the possibilities of the creation of beauty.

I think that the quality of all bands is steadily improving and it is a pleasant thought to me that perhaps the efforts of Sousa's Band have quickened that interest and improved that quality.

Any composer who is gloriously conscious that he is a composer must believe that he receives his inspiration from a source higher than himself.

I can almost always write music; at any hour of the twenty-four, if I put pencil to paper, music comes.

Governmental aid is a drawback rather than an assistance, as, although it may facilitate in the routine of artistic production, it is an impediment to the development of true artistic genius.

To the average mind popular music would mean compositions vulgarly conceived and commonplace in their treatment. That is absolutely false.

I had found English audiences highly satisfactory. They are the best listeners in the world. Perhaps the music-lovers of some of our larger cities equal the English, but I do not believe they can be surpassed in that respect.