So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.

-- Aaron Copland

Any composer who is gloriously conscious that he is a composer must believe that he receives his inspiration from a source higher than himself.

-- John Philip Sousa

It is my hope that during my brief passage through this universe, that I may share with you the joy of hearing the music of the stars . . . knowing that the composer was from a distant place and the songs were written eons ago, which now fall gently on this place for all to hear.

-- Richard H. Baker

To send light into the darkness of men's hearts -- such is the duty of the artist.

-- Robert Schumann

It was a music more tangible than form or sight.  It had essence and structure. . . . It seemed to travel with her [Meg], to sweep her aloft in the power of song, so that she was moving in glory among the stars, and for a moment she, too, felt the words Darkness and Light had no meaning, and only this melody was real.

-- Madeleine L'Engle
(from A Wrinkle in Time)