I am convinced that 100 years from now, people will talk about Elliott Carter as one of the most important figures in the second half of 20th-century music.

'Atlas Shrugged,' let's face it, was probably the most important novel of the 20th century that was never a film.

I have loved Elliott Carter's music for many years.

I think the most important thing for a listener is to realize that he, too, should not listen to music in a passive way; that if you sit in a concert hall and expect to be moved or taken off your seat by the music, it will not happen.

When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.

On Nov. 5, 2012, my friend Elliott Carter died in New York at the age of 103. For me, he was and remains one of the most interesting figures of music history in the past century.