Demanding Muses

Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.—David Hume

If I calm my conscious mind and listen, musical ideas are almost always there, waiting to be heard. I fully understand that unconscious mental processes are at work, but even so the process often seems magical, as if someone else were giving me ideas. Small wonder that notions of muses and other attendant spirits have endured for centuries.

Working with my muses has been both rewarding and demanding. They assume that I am there to serve them, not vice versa. They give me ideas generously, but only if I am willing to work for long hours to make those ideas cohesive and expressive. They imperiously expect me to do whatever it takes to shape their ideas into results that please them. If I protest that sometimes they give me difficult ideas to work with, they reply, “Get used to it.”

Stylish and sophisticated, my muses like the theater, dancing, and being entertained. They desire experiences that please them, especially in some deeply satisfying way. Easily bored and hungry for new experiences, they sometimes suggest that I combine musical elements rooted in widely different time periods or stylistic practices. If I complain that melding disparate ideas into a coherent whole is hard work, they reply, “Hard work makes you stronger.” They are not easily pleased, so I grit it out until my efforts produce results that intrigue them.