I Know Of No More Sacred Duty

Music Is Mediator Between Spiritual And Sensual Life.

Don't Only Practise Your Art, But Force Your Way Into Its Secrets.

Strange, I Feel As If Up To Now I Had Written No More Than A Few Notes.

Handel, To Him I Bow The Knee.

I Carry My Thoughts About With Me For A Long Time... Before Writing Them Down... Once I Have Grasped A Theme. I Shall Not Forget It Even Years Later. I Change Many Things, Discard Others, And Try Again And Again Until I Am Satisfied; Then, In My Head... [the Work] Rises, It Grows, I Hear And See The Image N Front Of Me From Every Angle... And Only The Labor Of Writing It Down Remains... I Turn My Ideas Into Tones That Resound, Roar, And Rage Until At Last They Stand Before Me In The Form Of Notes.