David Del Tredici Quotes

I actually write more on guitar than I do on piano.

The banjo is my chosen instrument - it's what I write my music on.

I played with the best conductors of the world.

I can take any series of numbers and turn it into music, from Bach to bebop, Herbie Hancock to hip-hop.

I picked up the guitar at 11, but even before then, I was writing songs on the organ.

I hear these melodies. I hear horn lines and string lines. That's what's fun about recording with an orchestra.

Pulse as an active means of expression, Stravinsky and Beethoven are the two masters of that.

I admire Tom Ades: he's a brilliant conductor, and he gets just the right hard, brilliant sound from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for Russian music.

I've written my own music, and I play guitar.

I grew up loving symphonies. Beethoven is beautiful.

I really feel like I've written my most effective music in the instrumental realms.

I don't believe in a composer who is only able to compose, who can't play or conduct, can only use a computer. If that trend continues there will be no more symphonies, no more oratorios.

Muti is going to do the Alpine Symphony this year. He will do it well because it is not very well known.

I've been writing and composing songs since I was 5 years old.

My whole life, I've been watching conductors. I was 7 the first time I played with a conductor. Seeing the ones that do it well, it's an amazing thing.

I was drawn to love songs, but I was just drawn to great music - no matter if it's hip-hop, pop, R&B or whether it's rock n' roll or country. It could be a Garth Brooks song, and if it's a smash, then I'll love the different wordplay and different melodies. That's what I'm a fan of - great music.

I feel at home in an orchestral score.

My first album didn't come out until I was 27, which in pop years is late, you know. But when it came time to arrange it, I became a kid in a toy shop. I had a harp and a saxophone quartet and a symphony orchestra. I went berserk for a time.

When you have great songs that are going to live longer than the composers, everything you can do to bring those different elements and nuances out, serve the song.

I'm not a person who writes really abstract things with oblique references. I look at abstraction like I look at condiments. Give me some Tabasco sauce, some ketchup, some mayonnaise. I love all of that. Put it on a trumpet. I've just got to have the ketchup and Tabasco sauce. That's my attitude about musical philosophy.

We can't afford big symphonies but we commission works that sound rich and symphonic because of the nature of the instrumentation and the people we work with.

I think I love it more as I get older because I keep getting better on drums, vibes and piano.

I think it's important to learn instruments, whenever one has a little space. Be eager to learn and love your instrument.

I love doing concert music.

I recently did a piece for the Boston Pops and John Williams, and I hope that it's as well a composed piece as I've ever done for any other medium or occasion.