Mozart didn't left anythink written about it, nor did he ever got pupils (this AFAIK), so, about the way he composed, I can oly imagine. Being someone who was playing by heart since very young age, and with a prodigious memory, he could easily assemble "variations" of well known formulas, and create something new. Was everything he wrote genial? I personally don't think so. Actually, the works I like and respect more are the ones he wrote in his maturity, after haviong travelled extensively and have studying more. Because he studied, and played extensively, and was constantly developing his skills. That's why his technique (compositional technique) evolved.A.M. Gold wrote: So exactly how did Mozart compose? Enlighten us, please. What was in his mind as he wrote music? You seem to know a lot about him.
Do you "really" think that being "spiritual" is all it takes to do the ragas? Shankar told, in your own words "this isn't something you can learn from a book". He didn't say it's something he didn't need to learn... just that it can't be learned from a book, and I easily understand why: Because it's a complete cultural inheritage that the musician has to learn. But the musician HAS TO LEARN, just learns from someone else. It was like that that Bach and all the other great masters were taught (in Bach's case by copying the manuscripts from the old masters), and it was the same way that Mozart was taught too, in this case beginning by his father. Simply, there are people who learn more, better and faster.A.M. Gold wrote: Did you not read the quote I included from Shankar? He said "this isn't something you can learn from a book". And he used the word "spiritual" several times.
Also, any music needs to be spiritual, otherwise it would be an empty exercize (that's what I believe, at least).
I will not comment the majority of what you told, because these are senseless words, that just want to attack. I am deeply sorry you found your training useless. But remember that the University biggest lesson is not to teach you something, rather to teach you how to investigate and where to investigate in order to learn something. If you cannot reach the knowledge on your own, then you are lost, no matter what.A.M. Gold wrote: I'm sorry, that just isn't what people encounter in academic music training in the West, and I know because I've studied it at university too.
And as far as McCartney's greatness coming down to money, that's silly. He wasn't rich during the time he wrote most of his best music, that came later.
If you think it's somehow easy to write truly great and memorable popular music, you are deluding yourself.
But I'll be glad to hear your song that is every bit as good as Hey Jude, which I assume you can dash off without much effort, because of your extensive training.
I'm really not interested in any dissonant or experimental academic music you have, though. Doesn't interest or impress me at all, and it simply doesn't matter to me that you have a theory degree if that's what you use it for. Nor do I think it will ever mean much to most other people.
Regarding what I think of McCartney (which is far from being bad or prejudicious) I will keep that to myself, because it's completely off topic. I just would like to remind you that, using your example, the author of "Happy Birthday" sould be the greatest composer ever existed, because that's the most played and covered music ever. Also, Franz Xaver Gruber should be a great composer too, because Silent Night is a piece of geniality.
Just to finish, let's make a parallel with literature. The basic skills needed for writing a novel are to know spelling, grammar and language. A good and solid cultural background is good and helpfull, as well as deep knowledge on the field one is going to write about, although perhaps not completely necessary. Having something to say is also a must, of course. Now, if someone comes to you and ask about the validity of collecting the preferred sentences of some great books and concatenate them, because he/she has little knowledge of grammar and spelling, what would you answer?