Devin Townsend Quotes

In high school, we had a really great jazz program that I finally was able to be a part of. They only wanted instrumentalists; they didn't want any singers. But I made my way in, and I remember the conductor of the band wrote a lot of arrangements and asked me what I wanted to sing.

We would play, then they would play a set, then we would jam on the last song.

Well, I think the first piece of music I ever heard that I really loved was 'Salome's Dances' by Richard Strauss. I played that 12-inch, 78 record, and I stood up on an ottoman to play it on a big Victrola and I'd just keep playing it and playing it.

The orchestral or symphonic music never interested me.

Composers love to write for symphony orchestras because the symphony is the Rolls Royce of musical instruments.

You must have the music to justify an instrument's extensive use.

There was a period after my first solo album came out that about 50 per cent of my work was with symphonies and big bands. We did the Captain and Tennille as well, but it ended up being about 50-50.

How could I? I only know two tunes. One of them is Yankee Doodle. The other isn't.

The world of classical music is so fascinating. It's a world that encompasses people from everywhere and erases the basic restraints of nationality; everyone is united by this common language of music.

I really like conducting my music in concerts because I'm convinced it's not just for films; it has its own life. It can live far away from the images of the movie.

If anything, when I was young, I wanted to be an orchestra.

The guitar was not treated very seriously as a concert recital instrument.

First, I started to play the organ. I did that until I was 11. From the age of 11 to 13, I gave up music entirely. And then at 13, I picked up the guitar, and after one and a half years, I started practicing intensively. I began playing in rock bands, and it was there that I discovered that the music I liked to write was always instrumental.

I focused on the saxophone ever since high school. It wasn't until my album 'Poetica,' which I recorded in 2006, that I went back to the clarinet. It felt like it was waiting for me!

I don't believe in a composer who is only able to compose, who can't play or conduct, can only use a computer. If that trend continues there will be no more symphonies, no more oratorios.

My mother was an opera singer and my father is a clarinet player, composer and conductor.

My grandmother got me recordings of the 'Goldberg Variations,' in addition to the 'Brandenburg Concertos,' the Mozart string quartets and Beethoven's 'Seventh Symphony.'

I come from a classical background.

Muti is going to do the Alpine Symphony this year. He will do it well because it is not very well known.

I was in charge of the music in every team I played for, and that is a huge responsibility, believe me!

I've always liked music since I was younger.

I started studying piano at the age of four.

No matter what I do, I've always recognized that Deep Purple is primarily an instrumental band. That's where all the music comes from in rehearsals - it all stems from the music.

Everyone thought my first album would be instrumental, but I didn't want to do it - it took me eight months to make.

My aunt played upright bass in the Louisville Orchestra, and I was always really impressed by her musical ability. I found it really fascinating as a kid that one could play music for a living.