Andre Previn

I found that jazz musicians, possibly more than their classical counterparts, wear long-standing friendships easily and gracefully. ”

I admire Elliott Carter endlessly. But I have no ambitions to emulate him. ”

People who don't do jazz think it's black magic. But really, it's just a matter of getting used to it. It's fun to gamble. The trick is not to fall back on the things you've done before. ”

Elliott Carter does not write the kind of music that the kids go off to school whistling. ”

The thing is that I'm naturally curious about a lot of different disciplines in music, and I enjoy doing them. And as long as people are nice enough to let me, I'll keep on trying. ”

I finally wasn't interested in writing music that played while actors talked. ”

I'm on very good terms with all my former wives. ”

When I composed, I heard my music played by the orchestra within days of completion of the score. No master at a conservatory, no matter how revered, can teach as much by verbal criticism as can a cold and analytical hearing of one's own music being played. ”

I've had the healthy and sobering experience of constantly working with music that is invariably better than any performance of it can be. ”

It's been thrown up to me most of my life: Why don't I just concentrate on conducting or composing or my own playing or on jazz? ”