I was always afraid to write music.

I was raised with fear of God, guilt over Jesus, and terror of the Devil.

In 1973, I broke off from the therapy and decided I could go through one of those episodes on my own, in my house. I found there is no real need to be locked up. I found that I was able to use that kind of awake dreaming that you go into during insanity and look at it and live with it and relate to it and become friends with it.

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

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

I write my music.