Quotes from Lukas Foss

The fact that Stravinsky used the classics as a major influence is obvious. What is interesting is how he used them, how he turned Bach into Stravinsky.

Why do we pigeonhole and label an artist? It is a sure way of missing the important, the contradictory, the things that make him or her unique.

As I sit down and start to work, I often panic. I stare at the empty piece of music paper. How can I say that my piece will be ready for performance next January when I do not have a recipe for making it happen?

Since age seven, I've been composing and have never stopped composing, yet, the creative process is as elusive to me as it has ever been.

It is obvious that anything a scientist discovers or invents is based on previous discoveries and inventions. The same applies to the arts.

I still do not know where the notes will come from when I accept a commission for a new work.

Most artists have experienced the creative block. We get stuck in our work. We beat our head against the wall: nothing. Sometimes, it is because we are trying something at the wrong time.

Yes, influences are enriching, and they can be found in every work of art, even the most original.

I don't dare postulate about science, but I know that it takes both emotion and intellect in order for art to happen.

That is why the analogy of stealing does not work. With a thief, we want to know how much money he stole, and from whom. With the artist it is not how much he took and from whom, but what he did with it.