I think recordings have been a terrific advance because now, when you have a piece of music, particularly something that appears to the listener very complicated, there's really a push to the world to try to figure out what it was that he was hearing.

I'm really interested in writing a piece of music that will move you, that will really move you. That is really the only reason that I'm writing music.

You write it down because finally, when it's written down you do get it out of your system somewhat.

Improvisation is terribly haphazard.

When I was speaking about communicating, I meant that the listener - we have to reach the listener; otherwise, of course, you're writing the piece, as I say, only for the satisfaction of seeing it on the paper for yourself, and then it ends right there.

A person improvising is sometimes very fortunate that just at that second things coincide.

I distrust anything that you don't hear.