ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 traces modern classical music composer Chet Biscardi’s process as he created two different works. The two creative processes differed in the seeds that started the composing, the duration of the creative episode, and the degree to which structure was present at the start. Major aspects were the same: composing had to be done at the piano with fingers on the keys—embodied composing in a music world. A body intuition told when a passage was right. If not, heuristics suggested variations to play till something did. Diary entries revealed the intrusion of everyday concerns about his identity as a composer during worktime and creative visitations amid other activities. Intuitively, his hands led him to universal musical meaning with personal significance as well.
