Esa-Pekka Salonen

The Northern idea of form is more of a process. The various units of the form overlap. You can't tell where some things stop and new things start. This is typical of Sibelius.

I'm still disturbed if a chord isn't together, but your priorities change as you get older.

There is such a suspicion in today's world of people who do more than one thing, who aren't specialized.

Well, I actually wrote her a letter a couple of days ago congratulating her. The tone I tried to convey in the letter is, look, you are a part of a great American historical process.

What makes knowledge automatic is what gets you to Carnegie Hall - practice, practice, practice.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.