Toru Takemitsu

“For me, to compose is to dream.”

“My music is like a garden, and I am the gardener.”

“What is composed remains, mute, in the score. It is the performance that brings the music to life, and for that reason the same piece can be said to have many different lives.”

“In my music, the concept of 'ma' is very important. It's the space between the notes, the silence that gives the notes their meaning.”

“I am not interested in 'Japanese' music, but in music that is Japanese.”

“Tradition is not a thing of the past. It is a living thing that is passed down to us.”

“A single sound can be a world.”

“Music is either sound or silence. As long as I live I shall choose sound.”

“I want to create a sound as intense as silence.”

“The world is filled with sound. It is not necessary to create it. We must find the wonder in sound which already exists.”

“The sea is my eternal source of inspiration.”