Too much counterpoint; what is worse, Protestant counterpoint.
I find brass bands have a melancholy sound. All right out of doors, of course - fifty miles away. Like bagpipes, they turn what had been a dream into a public nuisance.
The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.
What can you do with it? It's like a lot of yaks jumping about.
Composers should write tunes that chauffeurs and errand boys can whistle.
Beethoven's last quartets were written by a deaf man and should only be listened to by a deaf man.