The Musical Imagination

Abstract

Composers have taken various approaches to create musical compositions, including an exploration of the relationship between intellect, emotion, and memory as they combine in the imagination. In this chapter, aspects of compositional thought—defined primarily in terms of dreaming and thinking—are considered in detail, and the reader is given means to explore these methods of thought through specific imagination exercises. The author also examines these concepts through historical and contemporary examples of the creative process, with analyses that link personal real-life experiences to musical ideas in music by Mozart and Beethoven, as well as in works by the author. Examples of the author’s own creative process are examined, with particular attention paid to the relationship of inspiration and improvisation to the selection of ideas and the realization of those ideas through technique and craft. A central focus is the process of creative decision-making and its link to emotional authenticity as a manifestation of the composer’s memories and inner life. The idea of truth and personal artistic expression is investigated. Particular principles of composing—surprise, emotional authenticity, economy, and unity—serve as essential tools for assessment during the composing process. The role of unconscious thought is considered as an aspect of the mysterious side of the creative process, linked to dreaming and associative thinking. Finding musical inspiration from real life, neuroscience, and preexisting music are considered in depth within the context of compositional analysis. Neuroscience in particular is explored along with the composer’s work with neuroscientist Antonio Damasio.