Composing:thoughts from those that did and keep doing.

Ravel:
Of course, if I ever did a perfect piece of work I would stop composing immediately. One just tries, and when I have finished a composition I have 'tried' all I can; it's no use attempting anything more in the same direction. One must seek new ideas."


"Music, I feel, must be emotional first and intellectual second."


Hindemith:
"My God, how can anyone ever be a master of music?"


"There are only twelve tones and they need to be treated carefully."


Chopin:

"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."

"When one does a thing, it appears good, otherwise one would not write it. Only later comes reflection, and one discards or accepts the thing. Time is the best censor, and patience a most excellent teacher."

"Put all your soul into it, play the way you feel!"
Shostakovich:
A creative artist works on his next composition because he was not satisfied with his previous one.

Schoenberg:
“Whether one calls oneself conservative or revolutionary, whether one composers in a conventional or progressive manner, whether one tries to imitate old styles or is destined to express new ideas - one must be convinced of the infallibility of one's own fantasy and one must believe in one's own inspiration.”