There were so many people who wanted me for their films.
When I've seen my operas in Europe, they have always struck me as more American than when I hear them here. I can't tell you what that phenomenon is.
It seems to me opera is just as relevant as an expressive art as anything else.
I found a certain kind of music congenial to me; it never occurred to me to write music that was academically acceptable.
Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.
If an American audience is given a serious musical theater piece that is well produced, dramatically gripping and wonderfully acted, they'll respond to it.
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.
Dad said that he was prouder of me than he'd ever been when I came out.
Perhaps depression is a perfectly natural reaction to the human condition.
My grandmother lived with us for a short time while I was a child. Old people tend to be slightly more eccentric - they can behave the way they want.
Pippa's Song The year's at the spring The day's at the morn Morning's at seven, The Hill side's dew-pearled The lark's on the wing The snail's on the thorn God's in his heaven- All's right with the world