Composers Forum is a daily web log that allows invited contemporary composers to share their thoughts and ideas on any topic that interests them--from the ethereal, like how new music gets created, music history, theory, performance, other composers, alive or dead, to the mundane, like getting works played and recorded and the joys of teaching. If you're a professional composer and would like to participate, send us an e-mail.
Record companies, artists and publicists are invited to submit CDs to be considered for review. Send to: Jerry Bowles, Editor, Sequenza 21, 340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019
I wonder if anyone can help me with a neurological question. I have, and I assume all composers have, music going through my head every waking moment. Sometimes it’s music I’ve heard recently, sometimes it’s music I haven’t heard in eons, sometimes it’s music I’m working on, sometimes I don’t have the slightest idea what it is. Doesn’t matter if I’m having a conversation, reading a book, teaching a class -- it’s always there. It is astonishing to me that this isn’t true for everyone.
My limited understanding of brain science tells me that this is a malfunction/hyperfunction of aural memory combined with -- what? Does anyone know what is really going on, and why this phenomenon should be pervasive in some people and nonexistent in others? I would love to know more about it. Sometimes it’s a source of deep pleasure -- and sometimes it just drives me nuts.
posted by Lawrence Dillon
11:43 AM
