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.

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

I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.

The most perfect melodic shapes are found in Mozart; he has the lightness of touch which is the true objective ... Listen to the remarkable expansion of a Mozart melody, to Cherubino's 'Voi che sapete', for instance. You think it is coming to an end, but it goes farther, even farther.

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.