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"One thing I've tried to do in writing music is take on very basic things, very archetypal things."

Harrison Birtwistle, British Composer

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"One thing I've tried to do in writing music is take on very basic things, very archetypal things."

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Explore more quotes by Harrison Birtwistle

"My operas and my theatre works are very formal pieces."

"When I was a kid, I wrote music - from the age of 11 until the age of 18."

"Minimalism now is a reaction to what came before. It's absolutely of its time. Music moved into the set theory thing, and moved out of it."

"My operas usually come from musical ideas rather than ideas about subject matter."

"The opera tells the story with all the built-in contradictions and from many different angles."

"When I dealt with set theory, I could never make it be the music that I wanted."

"I think there are influences that you open the door to, and influences that come under the door."

"I'm not a music lover in the sense that I look for something to have on. I've never had that attitude to music."

"Music is such a problem in the time it takes."

"I wrote music as soon as I knew notation."

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