Richard Strauss

I want to be able to depict in music a glass of beer so accurately that every listener can tell whether it…

— Richard Strauss

Never look at the trombones, you'll just encourage them.

— Richard Strauss

Never look at the brass - it only encourages them.

— Richard Strauss

The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but the most difficult to play.

— Richard Strauss

The aria, after all, is the soul of opera.

— Richard Strauss

don't perspire while conducting - only the audience should get warm.

— Richard Strauss

Must one become seventy years old to recognize that one's greatest strength lies in creating musical kitsch?

— Richard Strauss

He'd be better off shoveling snow.

— Richard Strauss

On conducting: If you can just barely hear the French horns on stage, the balance is perfect.

— Richard Strauss

I shall never be converted, and I shall remain true to my old religion of the classics until my life's end.

— Richard Strauss

Never let the horns and woodwinds out of your sight; if you can hear them at all, they are too loud.

— Richard Strauss

Ideas, like young wine, should be put in storage and taken up again only after they have been allowed to ferment and…

— Richard Strauss

“Never look encouragingly at the brass, except with a brief glance to give an important cue.”

— Richard Strauss

I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.

— Richard Strauss

Never look at the trombones. You'll only encourage them.

— Richard Strauss

Bear in mind that you are not making music for your own pleasure, but for the pleasure of your audience.

— Richard Strauss

The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play.

— Richard Strauss

Never look encouragingly at the brass, except with a short glance to give an important cue.

— Richard Strauss

The most perfect melodic shapes are found in Mozart; he has the lightness of touch which is the true objective ... Listen…

— Richard Strauss

If you think that the brass is not blowing loud enough, mute it by a couple of degrees.

— Richard Strauss

Its a funny thing Alice, dying is just the way I composed it in Tod und Verklärung.

— Richard Strauss