ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the preliminary synthesis, linking quantitatively documented variability in composers' career trajectories with aspects of their working methods, evaluative processes and judgement criteria. It frequently uses the value-laden terminology, referring to the 'greatest' composers or 'eminent' composers and 'masterwork' in music history. While some may question this practice, quantitative assessments of the relative impact of notable creators and notable compositions on music history show large individual differences and extremely high internal consistency across measures, amply justifying such language. The creator-audience dynamic in extreme conceptual innovation, in which novelty is prioritised over virtually every other quality, including basic perceptual and communicative capacities, can lead to an ever-increasing gulf between the creator and the audience. The application of David W. Galenson's creator typology to classical composers is relatively straightforward and can be subsumed into mainstream creativity theories in terms of a differential emphasis on ideation vs elaboration.
