Richard Strauss

The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play.

Bear in mind that you are not making music for your own pleasure, but for the pleasure of your audience.

Never let the horns and woodwinds out of your sight; if you can hear them at all, they are too loud.

Exeter was, I suspect, more crucial in my life than in the lives of most members of my class, and conceivably, than in the lives of almost anyone else who ever attended the school.

Composers, like authors, have a lot in common. Our main goal is to connect with the listener emotionally.

A flat-rate poll tax would be politically unsustainable; even with a rebate scheme, the package would have an unacceptable impact on certain types of household.