There's the Bacon society, which is fostered by his fourth wife Helen Bacon, but I don't know what kind of performances his music gets. He wrote symphonic music and some chorale music.

What is American music? The most satisfying answer I've come across is that it was a kind of natural comfort with the vernacular which is diverse and regional; it's not one particular set of sounds.

I've never set out consciously to write American music. I don't know what that would be unless the obvious Appalachian folk references.

I found a certain kind of music congenial to me; it never occurred to me to write music that was academically acceptable.

The performances of my works in the last 10 years are probably equal to all the previous years put together. There are so many venues now and there is a completely new public for opera that's grown up outside of the traditional core opera public.

Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.