ABSTRACT

When I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer-say, travelling in a carriage, or walking aft er a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasions that my ideas fl ow best and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not; nor can I force them.… Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once. What a delight this is I cannot tell! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing lively dream.…Th is is perhaps the best gift I have my Divine Maker to thank for. (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Ghiselin, 1985, pp. 34-35)

Generally speaking, the germ of a future composition comes suddenly and unexpectedly. If the soil is ready-that is to say if the disposition to work is there-it takes root with extraordinary force and rapidity.… In the midst of this magic process it frequently happens that some external interruption wakes me from my somnambulistic state: a ring at the bell, the entrance of my servant, the striking of a clock.… Dreadful, indeed, are such interruptions. Sometimes they break the thread of inspiration for a considerable time.… In such cases cool headwork and technical knowledge have to come to my aid. Even in the works of the greatest master we fi nd such moments, when the organic sequence fails and a skillful join has to be made.… But it cannot be avoided. If that condition of mind and soul, which we call inspiration, lasted long without intermission, no artist could survive it. (Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, in Vernon, 1975, pp. 57-58)

Molly wanted to write a song for an upcoming church musical. She had never written a song before, but she played several instruments and was convinced that if she could manage the task, the musical would be much improved. For several days she was frustrated with her eff orts. Her ideas seemed either stiff and mechanical or very similar to popular songs she enjoyed. One evening, in the shower, she found herself singing a new, interesting chorus to her song. Hair still dripping, she ran to write it down. With this new beginning, the rest of the song followed easily.