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.

Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away.

"Have you heard any Stockhausen?" Beecham was asked. "No, but I believe I have stepped in some."

Beethoven's last quartets were written by a deaf man and should only be listened to by a deaf man.

Without question the most unpopular medium of musical sound in the world.

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."

The British like any kind of music so long as it is loud.