I hate to do anything halfway so I leave the guitar alone.

I play a very streamlined piano.

I equate composing with orchestrating. I think my music in terms of an orchestra.

When I first began to work in pictures I tried to attract the attention of film critics, but I don't make movies to please them or myself anymore. I look for material that will entertain.

If you want to write for films or TV, you must go to Hollywood.

Most people are oriented to words. When the public hears a melody, unless you put words to It, it takes longer to penetrate. It's always been like that, but I don't know why.

I very rarely write anything before what I see what I'm writing for.

My father was a steelworker who'd come over from Abruzzi, in Italy. He played in the band and he encouraged me to be a musician.

Some people say 'flutist.' Others say 'flautist.' I just say 'flute player.' That's what I was.

Erroll Garner is one of the few musicians I believe has a sense of humor in his music.

I don't usually take a picture if I don't like it. I have that choice. But some pictures I like more than others.

My profession has never demanded that I be mobbed by fans.

The Pavarotti and Galway albums were a lot of fun because I got to work with two of the best 'voices' in the world.

I would like a shot at Broadway.

If a film is not doing well, a record company will not take a chance with the score.

You can make or break a picture in the dubbing room.

Some scenes cry out for a certain kind of treatment. The kind we're conditioned by years of film-watching to expect.

I don't like to surprise anyone with the music I compose for a film. That way, there is less trouble later on.

When someone asks me to do a score, I look at the picture two or three times. I never watch the rushes to pick up the mood as quickly as I can. If it's something I want to do, just watching the film will start the wheels turning.

Some producers hang-on to that old cliche that if the audience hears the music, it is no good. I say this is so much talk. Music gives the film another dimension, if it's done with the story in mind.

Oh, I'd been writing cartoonish music pretty much all along.

I've turned down many pictures, mostly because I didn't like them.

Some of the prettiest music I've done was in films that really were not a smash. Your music fares as the film does.

I've had pieces in my catalog that kind of amble along, that really never go anywhere, but are known and liked.