Distinguished composer Gunther Schuller at age 83 triumphed, in early February, at the Boston Symphony's world premiere performance of his latest work “Where The Word Ends.”

In an interview the following week, he shared with this writer his experience of later life. “I'm much wiser, much more tolerant, more gently critical,” he said. “I find that the activity of my brain, my mind is greater and deeper. I have a   mental fertility.”

“Now there is a kind of depth of my thinking and my exploring things, and every day I come up with so many new ideas, new thoughts and feelings that I've never had before.”

“I'm attributing that to living long enough; you also learn a lot and you gain from that. You accumulate so many experiences that they enrich your inner self.”