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

Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands and all you can do is scratch it.

Too much counterpoint; what is worse, Protestant counterpoint.

At a rehearsal I let the orchestra play as they like. At the concert I make them play as I like.

Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.

There are no woman composers, never have been and possibly never will be.

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.