As we watch TV or films, there are no organic transitions, only edits. The idea of A becoming B, rather than A jumping to B, has become foreign.

Once you get over the first hill, there is always a new, higher one lurking, of course.

There will have to be times when I'm not conducting because I'm composing. I haven't solved that problem, and perhaps I never will.

Orchestras have become used to the emphasis on the separation of layers, of the ultimate precision and clarity.

The act of conducting in itself, of waving my arms in the air and being in charge, I didn't miss. I missed the sensual pleasure of being in contact with music.

My music wouldn't sound the way it does if I hadn't had the experience of conducting.

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

This conducting thing happened. In 1983 I was sucked into this international career, which was a very scary experience.

I discovered that the people of the North are different and there's no way you can make a person from the North similar to a Southerner. They're two different worlds.

I feel very free and very happy to be a composer.

The underlying process in Northern music tends to be slower and continuous, whatever's happening on the surface; in Southern music the underlying process is always faster.

Capitalism brings wealth and inequality with intellectuality.

You think that you're in control of your life.Well, think again.

My fitness trainer's English, my physio's English, some of my friends are English. I don't have a problem with English people at all.

My part of the game is that I must live the best I can.

Realize you can chase your dreams with just believing. Don't be afraid to believe in some magic; if proof not in front in of you, follow your gut.

When my husband first read a draft, he said, "You spend too much time describing the characters' outfits." He was right. I removed much of the clothes talk, but quite a bit remained.

I am not a great planner, so I have just a vague idea. And then I start to find out what kind of book I actually want to write.

I think my primary audience is in some sense an adult audience, because I think that will then have a knock-on effect for children.

Even a nod from a person who is esteemed is of more force than a thousand arguments or studied sentences from others.

Healthy feet can feel the very heart of Mother Earth.