I began conducting when I was in school, around age 12, because I was writing little theater pieces … - George Benjamin

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But he always licked to get visitors alone in the billiard room and tell them stories about a mysterious lady, a foreign royalty, with whom he had driven about London. 'A devilish temper she had,' he would say. 'But she was a dem fine woman, sir, a dem fine woman.

George Benjamin

I began conducting when I was in school, around age 12, because I was writing little theater pieces and wanted to perform them. And then somehow I got started on it. I love doing it, but I have to ration myself very severely or I wouldn't get anything else done.

Age, Done, Pieces, School, Severely, Writing

Same Author Quotes

I get nervous before I conduct a concert, but then you just go out there and do it.

Concert, Concerts, Conduct, Nervous

The London music world isn't a particularly cohesive place. And when I'm composing, I'm not very friendly. I need isolation.

Friendly, Needs, Particularly, Place, World

When you love a teacher very much - as I did Olivier Messiaen - you do have to leave them. One of the things that separated me from Messiaen was my desire to create works with a big structure, a large symphonic sweep. His forms are wonderful, glorious mosaics, but again, I prefer narrative.

Desire, Messiaen, Mosaics, Symphonic, Teacher

When I lose direction, it becomes very hard to write. I actually get a physical pain, as if my subconscious knows better. That may sound mystical and pretentious, but it's true.

Lose, Pain, Physical, Sound, Writing

It's not only that I want to get things right when I'm composing but that my imagination often gets lost, and then I have to wait until I come back to the path. I think there's an internal force that makes a piece logical from beginning to end; I like to tell stories in music that are unexpected but also logical.

Thinking, Imagination, Waiting, Wait, Music, Lost