ABSTRACT
The adult ego is usually more at home in the world of words, concepts, and images; the adult musical ego is, however, in addition, distinguished from the infantile psyche by being capable of understanding the orderliness of form and content in musical sounds. It is generally acknowledged that music is a highly developed art form and that it therefore involves the whole personality of the musician, be he composer, performer, or listener. The outline of the ego's playful mastery of threatening sounds deserves elaboration in one direction. Psychoanalytic psychology postulates the gradual development of psychological functions. Primary processes are primitive forms of psychological tension mastery by direct, rapid discharge, residually exemplified by the child's relative incapacity to tolerate delay. Secondary processes are refined and complex means of tension mastery via the tension-tolerant functions of concept formation and logical thinking, of problem solving, planning, and deliberate action. The earliest psychological organization is characterized by increases and decreases of inner tensions.
