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

I shall never be converted, and I shall remain true to my old religion of the classics until my life's end.

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

He'd be better off shoveling snow.

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

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

don't perspire while conducting - only the audience should get warm.