“The composer comes first. In the beginning was the Note, and the Note was with God; and whosoever can reach for that Note, reach high, and bring it back to us on earth, to our earthly ears – he is a composer, and to the extent of his reach, partakes of the divine.” -Leonard #Bernstein (“Varèse, Koussevitzky, and New Music” speech delivered May 23, 1963 at The Plaza Hotel for an International Music Fund event paying homage to Edgard Varèse)