On hearing and inspiration in the composition of music.
The observation that composers experience inspiration as a source external to the self is considered, using reports of early and modern composers. This is related both to earlier psychoanalytic work on creative inspiration and to modern ego psychology. The postulation that an auditory sensory style in composers has early developmental roots and becomes their primary sensory mode is considered together with some possible determinants in its development.
D001307:Auditory Perception; D002409:Cathexis; D002657:Child Development; D003405:Creativity; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000150:complications; D004532:Ego; D005197:Famous Persons; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000150:complications; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009146:Music; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D012067:Religion; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology