Ik was afgesloten van de wereld; er was niemand om me te verwarren of te kwellen en ik werd gedwongen om origineel te worden.

– Franz Joseph Haydn over zijn verblijf in Eisenstadt

I have always loathed the piano because I consider it an affront to destroy a melodiously conceived idea by trying to fit it into the limitations of two hands and a box full of hammers and strings.

– Percy Grainger, componist en pianovirtuoos

Well, Shostakovich plays with clichés most of the time, I find. It’s like olive oil, when you have a second and even third pressing, and I think of Shostakovich as the second, or even third, pressing of Mahler.

– Pierre Boulez, immer vriendelijk in 2002