Mozart combines serenity, melancholy, and tragic intensity into one great lyric improvisation. Over it all hovers the greater spirit that is Mozart's - the spirit of compassion, of universal love, even of suffering - a spirit that knows no age, that belongs to all ages.
Leonard BernsteinI'm no longer quite sure what the question is, but I do know that the answer is Yes.
Leonard BernsteinI'm not interested in having an orchestra sound like itself. I want it to sound like the composer.
Leonard BernsteinOur most emotionally active life is lived in our dreams, and our cells renew themselves most industriously in sleep. We reach highest in meditation, and farthest in prayer. In stillness every human being is great; he is free from the experience of hostility; he is a poet, and most like an angel.
Leonard Bernstein