Too much counterpoint; what is worse, Protestant counterpoint.

The trouble with women in an orchestra is that if they're attractive it will upset my players and if they're not it will upset me.

If an opera cannot be played by an organ grinder, it's not going to achieve immortality.

The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes.

The sound of the harpsichord resembles that of a bird-cage played with toasting-forks.

The sound of a harpsichord - two skeletons copulating on a tin roof in a thunderstorm.

There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn't give a damn what goes on in between.