Jeffrey Tate Quotes & Sayings

“The most perfect expression of human behavior is a string quartet.”

“I guess, as a conductor, one goes in and out of fashion. Your career starts with a bang, everyone thinks you're wonderful, and then with middle age, something happens and you go into the wilderness.”

“In Hamburg, there are three major orchestras, an opera house, and one of the great concert-hall acoustics in Europe at the Laeiszhalle, in a town a fifth the size of London. And that's not unusual. In Germany, there are dozens of towns with two or three orchestras. The connection with music goes very, very deep.”

“What appeals to me about an American music directorship is the involvement of the conductor with the orchestra and the community. I think that's a fantastic thing. In Europe, being principal conductor means merely that you're the person who does most of the concerts. For me, that simply isn't enough.”

“Basically speaking, conducting is quite a healthy profession.”

“So I observe life a little bit, rather than participating in it.”

“Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, Berg imply a type of pianist who is intellectual. That's not always associated with female soloists.”

“I can't even touch another conductor's baton. The center of gravity, the feel of the handle, puts me totally off.”

“I had a sense of debt to the medical profession and to surgery particularly. I would not be as ambient as I am without it.”

“I was told when I went for a life-insurance exam when I was 18 that I was not likely to live past 50, so I refused to pay the premium.”