Never look at the trombones, you'll just encourage them.

I want to be able to depict in music a glass of beer so accurately that every listener can tell whether it is a Pilsner or a Kulmbacher.

If you think that the brass is not blowing loud enough, mute it by a couple of degrees.

The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but the most difficult to play.

On conducting: If you can just barely hear the French horns on stage, the balance is perfect.

Must one become seventy years old to recognize that one's greatest strength lies in creating musical kitsch?

Ideas, like young wine, should be put in storage and taken up again only after they have been allowed to ferment and to ripen.