Here is a sampler of some of Ralph Shapey`s more printable
pronouncements:
– ”I`ve been asked a thousand times why I write such difficult music. I do it to challenge myself.”
– ”Georg Solti told me his Chicago Symphony can`t be used for musical experiments. What the hell does he mean? Everything is an experiment on paper- until musicians breathe life into it.”
– ”Lenny Bernstein and I have known each other for 40 years. He can`t do modern music because, for modern music, you have to conduct. You can`t just wiggle your rear end around.”
– ”New Romanticism? I guess I`m an Old Romantic, so they don`t want me. One publisher told me his firm would publish my music only when I`m dead and buried.”
– ”Most people in America today find composers to be an embarrassment. They don`t want us. They would like us to disappear. Because if you can`t make money out of (music), then it`s not worth anything.”
– ”I`ve been accused of having a Beethoven complex. I said, `Thanks for the compliment.` ”
