Karlheinz Stockhausen

“The most important thing is to be prepared for the unexpected.”

“Sound is a living being. It is a spirit.”

“Humour is the highest form of intelligence.”

“The first task for a new music is to create a new listening.”

“We are all transistors.”

“A composer is a medium.”

“I want to make a music that is not for just one culture, but for the entire cosmos.”

“Every sound has a soul.”

“The future will be electronic.”

“Time is elastic.”

“I am not a human being. I am a vibration. I am a musician.”

“What happened there is, of course, the greatest work of art that is possible in the whole cosmos.”

“I don't think in terms of styles. I think in terms of ideas.”

“To be free is not to do whatever you want, but to be able to do what you must.”

“My music should be a way of life.”

“I think that music has always been a way of connecting with something higher than ourselves.”