"What I cannot follow are the manic-depressive fluctuations from total control to no control, from the serialization of all elements to chance."

"The more an artist tries to be original, the more he is likely to succeed."

"For I consider that music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all, whether a feeling, an attitude of mind, a psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature, etc. Expressio…"

"A good composer does not imitate; he invents."

"I am a very optimistic man. I always see the bright side of things."