I'm trying to phase out my availability on the phone. People call you when you're walking down the street and say the most random stuff.

Composition is interesting because, in a sense, you always have to let it go. Unless you're a true composer/performer, you're always sending a PDF and then someone else makes it. It's like instructions for a short story, faxed to every English student who's studying it.

Riding a horse is a relationship with a foreign creature, and with musicians it's a similar thing: "OK, I'm going to put something on the page that will spook you into rushing." Little games you can play.

I'm trying to phase out my availability on the phone. People call you when you're walking down the street and say the most random stuff.

Whenever I get asked to write orchestra music or music that is for a lot of players, I try to make it a little sad.

The score is doing a lot of work. It's like Wagner. It's like a yak carrying people.

For me the best kind of film music is liturgical music. Liturgical music is essentially a million scores for the same film.