---
title: "5 Composing Quotes By Esa-Pekka Salonen"
description: "5 Composing quotes by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Plus more from Esa-Pekka Salonen and more Composing sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/esa-pekka-salonen-8409_composer_every-orchestra-i-know-every-opera-house_91532.jpg"
---

> [Every orchestra I know, every opera house I know, is desperately looking around trying to find new talent, new composing talent, supporting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/every-orchestra-i-know-every-opera-house-i-know-is-desperately/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/esa-pekka-salonen-8409_composer_every-orchestra-i-know-every-opera-house_91532.jpg)

> [I'm composing more than before. I'm cutting down on conducting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/i-m-composing-more-than-before-i-m-cutting-down-on-conducting/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0db/esa-pekka-salonen-8409_composing_i-m-composing-more-than-before-i-m-cutti_1093827.jpg)

> [I'm trying to conduct only five months a year, and the rest will be composing time. I'm trying to spend as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/i-m-trying-to-conduct-only-five-months-a-year-and-the-rest-will-be/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/esa-pekka-salonen-8409_composing_i-m-trying-to-conduct-only-five-months-a_2132768.jpg)

> [There will have to be times when I'm not conducting because I'm composing. I haven't solved that problem, and perhaps I never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/there-will-have-to-be-times-when-i-m-not-conducting-because-i-m/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e3/esa-pekka-salonen-8409_composing_there-will-have-to-be-times-when-i-m-not_2259902.jpg)

> [I think if you would like to describe composing as an act with one word, "slow" would be the word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/i-think-if-you-would-like-to-describe-composing-as-an-act-with-one/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40d/esa-pekka-salonen-8409_composing_i-think-if-you-would-like-to-describe-co_3037963.jpg)

## More by Esa-Pekka Salonen

> [ There is something very special about this part of the world \[U.S\], which is the openness and the curiosity and the lack of prejudice… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/there-is-something-very-special-about-this-part-of-the-world-u-s/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [Every orchestra I know, every opera house I know, is desperately looking around trying to find new talent, new composing talent, supporting young composers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/every-orchestra-i-know-every-opera-house-i-know-is-desperately/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [After 30 years I have realized the greatest pleasure I can get is to have learnt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/after-30-years-i-have-realized-the-greatest-pleasure-i-can-get-is-to/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [Anyone who composes and conducts at the same time is immediately suspect, because he must be faking one or the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/anyone-who-composes-and-conducts-at-the-same-time-is-immediately/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [I started conducting lessons and I realized that this is actually something I like doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/i-started-conducting-lessons-and-i-realized-that-this-is-actually/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [I feel very free and very happy to be a composer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/i-feel-very-free-and-very-happy-to-be-a-composer/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [I love a visceral sound, the kind that hits you in the belly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/i-love-a-visceral-sound-the-kind-that-hits-you-in-the-belly/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [We need new art. Old art cannot do that. It can do lots of other things, and of course humanity hasn't changed that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/we-need-new-art-old-art-cannot-do-that-it-can-do-lots-of-other-things/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [Pulse as an active means of expression, Stravinsky and Beethoven are the two masters of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/pulse-as-an-active-means-of-expression-stravinsky-and-beethoven-are/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/the-underlying-process-in-northern-music-tends-to-be-slower-and/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [The Royal Festival Hall in London is nice; people hang out there. I think this inviting, non-exclusive character is very important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/the-royal-festival-hall-in-london-is-nice-people-hang-out-there-i/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [As we watch TV or films, there are no organic transitions, only edits. The idea of A becoming B, rather than A jumping to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/as-we-watch-tv-or-films-there-are-no-organic-transitions-only-edits/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [I think we are in the process of getting the word out, and we haven't done very well yet. But we are trying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/i-think-we-are-in-the-process-of-getting-the-word-out-and-we-haven-t/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [With American orchestras, in particular, because they play in such huge halls, getting a true pianissimo is very hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/with-american-orchestras-in-particular-because-they-play-in-such-huge/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [Sometimes you spend nine months, 10 months, a year writing a piece that you will hear two years later or something like that, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/sometimes-you-spend-nine-months-10-months-a-year-writing-a-piece-that/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

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