Esa-Pekka Salonen Quotes & Sayings (Page 4)

“With American orchestras, in particular, because they play in such huge halls, getting a true pianissimo is very hard.”

“I don't believe in an annual dose of film music for the sake of it being film music. If we program film music, it will be because there is a real artistic reason for doing so.”

“If the seams are showing, there is something wrong with the performance or the construction of the piece. This idea is completely at odds with our modern visual experience, because everything today is based on montage.”

“The act of conducting in itself, of waving my arms in the air and being in charge, I didn't miss. I missed the sensual pleasure of being in contact with music.”

“The players never think they project enough. In a hall that seats 3,300 people, it's a very scary thing to play so quietly that you can barely hear yourself.”

“The underlying process in Northern music tends to be slower and continuous, whatever's happening on the surface; in Southern music the underlying process is always faster.”

“This continuity of sound and form was something that I became really interested in from working with Ligeti. He was always going on about how form has to be continuous.”