 There's the Bacon society, which is fostered by his fourth wife Helen Bacon, but I don't know what kind of performances his music gets. He wrote symphonic music and some chorale music. |
| I think anything that is expressed directly and as honestly as possible will last. |
| There is something inherent in our democracy that tends to want to level. America is a little uncomfortable in the presence of someone who is distinctly superior in whatever way. |
| Opera is given so little attention in the national press. |
| The artist is something of an outsider in America. I have always felt that America does not value its artists, certainly not in the sense that the Europeans do. |
| What is American music? The most satisfying answer I've come across is that it was a kind of natural comfort with the vernacular which is diverse and regional; it's not one particular set of sounds. |
| If something is successful with the audience, it's automatically suspect; the reverse is to say that not to reach audiences is the greatest compliment an artist can receive! |
| It's necessary to track characters all the way through an opera. If you're dealing with more than one or two characters, it's very easy to forget that the others have lives of their own that feed into the story. |
| I was interested in what was really going on in Salem at that time, and I resolved to investigate this seemingly unorthodox treatment of the people and the period. |
| If an American audience is given a serious musical theater piece that is well produced, dramatically gripping and wonderfully acted, they'll respond to it. |
| I had all the normal interests - I played basketball and I headed the school paper. But I also developed very early a great love for music and literature and the theater. |
