"If I had known that it was possible to compose such a concerto for the cello, I would have tried it myself!"

"It always saddens me to think that after all I am not yet a proper musician; but I have more aptitude for the calling…"

"I wish I could write to you as tenderly as I love you and tell you all the good things that I wish you. You are so in…"

"High on the mountain, deep in the valley, I greet you a thousandfold."

"There is so much that is true in your letter — if not all— and I must confess that with remorse and regret; but with …"

"On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings…"

"I played over the music of that scoundrel Brahms. What a giftless bastard! It annoys me that this self-inflated medio…"

"Applying here Brahms' contributions to an unrestricted musical language will enable the opera composer to overcome th…"

"If there is any one here tonight whom I have not offended, I apologize!"

"He came as a true friend, to share with me all my sorrow; he strengthened my heart as it was about to break, he lifte…"