The piece that had a large influence on me was Turangalila.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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When I was a kid, I wrote music - from the age of 11 until the age of 18.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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When I dealt with set theory, I could never make it be the music that I wanted.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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My operas usually come from musical ideas rather than ideas about subject matter.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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The thing about influence is that any composer worth anything will give you the same names.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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The opera tells the story with all the built-in contradictions and from many different angles.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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I think there are influences that you open the door to, and influences that come under the door.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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One thing I've tried to do in writing music is take on very basic things, very archetypal things.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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This sounds horribly pretentious, but I like to think that if music hadn't existed, I could have invented it.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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I'm not a music lover in the sense that I look for something to have on. I've never had that attitude to music.

quote by Harrison Birtwistle
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