An interview, writes Helmut Lachenmann, is “ok”. To qualify straight away: “… but please no original tones, because substantive questions assume an eloquent presence of mind that I only trust in politicians like Ms. Alice Weidel.” The composer, who turns 90 this Thursday, is world-famous for his magnificently idiosyncratic pieces that often add noise to the traditional tones. But he is also a calm scoffer who raises politically and aesthetically pointed objections and is aware of his polarizing position: “… when does a composer think about himself or his thinking so precisely and in a generally understandable and quick-witted way? I’m probably almost an intellectually deformed exception among my peers.” He is always upset with himself after interviews.