"The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought."

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“I found it as alluring as a wayward woman and determined to tame it.”

“Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.”

“What can you do with it? It's like a lot of yaks jumping about.”

“The musical equivalent of the towers of St Pancras Station”

“The grand tune is the only thing in music that the great public really understands.”

“Too much counterpoint; what is worse, Protestant counterpoint.”

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