I've always been a composer dependent on texts.

quote by David Del Tredici
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

I began like all composers, writing for small groups. Chamber groups.

quote by David Del Tredici
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Composers love to write for symphony orchestras because the symphony is the Rolls Royce of musical instruments.

quote by David Del Tredici
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

When I first wrote for orchestra, I didn't realize, when you have 20 people playing a violin line, that is very different than one person playing that line.

quote by David Del Tredici
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Well, American composers are the best composers. At this time in the world, we are where the energy is. We are the most diverse, the most iconoclastic, the most maverick, and the most skillful.

quote by David Del Tredici
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

A maverick feels like he has no choice however difficult his choice of expression. In my case, it was going backwards into tonality. It seemed so wrong. The idea that progress is going into the past in a new way is very strange, even though there are precedents.

quote by David Del Tredici
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!