“I think the English are an unbelievably musical nation and always have...” — Simon Rattle Quote

I think the English are an unbelievably musical nation and always have been.

American economists can't understand the German fear of inflation and the effects of inflation when dealing with the world economic crisis. They wonder why Germany pursues such a different course - 'Why can't they agree with us?' I would have thought it was fairly obvious.

I first heard Mahler's second symphony aged 11 in Liverpool, and it inspired me to become a conductor.

The jazz records come out a lot. You find that with many musicians - we don't listen to our own music for relaxation.

I think Beethoven means dissonances to be more stressed than consonances - it's the shock tactician in him.

In 1763 the English were the most powerful nation in the world.

I get scripts and think, 'There's not enough here to get my teeth stuck into.' That's a result of studying English, where you luxuriate in these big, lush novels.

If you're talking about English football very few teams play 4-4-2 now: it's either 4-4-1-1, 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, they are the three major systems played throughout the Premier League.

The end of secrecy would be the end of the novel - especially the English novel. The English novel requires social secrecy, personal secrecy.

All players, whether they're Spanish, French, English, Welsh, want to play football. To play.