Elgar's first symphony is the musical equivalent of St Pancras Railway Station.

It is quite untrue that British people don't appreciate music. They may not understand it but they absolutely love the noise it makes.

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.

A soprano in Massenet's Don Quixote complained that she had missed her entry in the aria, "because Mr. Challiapin always dies too soon." "Madam, you must be profoundly in error," said Sir Thomas, "No operatic star has yet died half soon enough for me."

Movie music is noise. It's even more painful than my sciatica.

Magical music never leaves the memory.

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