I don't dare postulate about science, but I know that it takes both emotion and intellect in order for art to happen.

As I sit down and start to work, I often panic. I stare at the empty piece of music paper. How can I say that my piece will be ready for performance next January when I do not have a recipe for making it happen?

The fact that Stravinsky used the classics as a major influence is obvious. What is interesting is how he used them, how he turned Bach into Stravinsky.

When I went back to visit my native Berlin after World War II, I noticed that the only thing I really remembered from my childhood Berlin days is the shoe store.

Composing is like making love to the future.

Since age seven, I've been composing and have never stopped composing, yet, the creative process is as elusive to me as it has ever been.

If one uses music that one does not really love, then one will not succeed in making it one's own.