Inspiration And Emotion

In my composing career, I have found that my inspiration has run dry when my life was unexciting at that time. However, when an event that affects my life or disposition occurs, inspiration suddenly flows forth unceasingly. This ideal seems to be reinforced by the fact that many famous and productive composers have had rapidly changing lives and volatile personalities. What are your thoughts on this matter? Also, feel free to post situations that you have gone through similar to this with inspiration and emotion.

If you're not inspired to compose, then you're not geared to be a composer. Composer's write music because they have something to say, not because they want to have something to say.

My $0.02

In all honesty, though, just as professional sports players can go through slumps and still play the game, a composer can have dead periods and still be a composer. This was known to have happened to many composers as well.

This isn't really a very good question. Plenty of composers had steady, even dull, periods in their lives and still managed to write servicible music or even some masterpieces - Bach's cantata cycles spring to mind. I don't generally buy the idea that outside events trigger great compositions by themselves though. A momentus occasion does not provide any of the technical aspects of a composition or work as a substitute for prior knowledge. 'Inspiration' is, in practical terms, a knowledge of pre-existing sounds and ideas that the composer can recall and modify to create new work. The idea of anybody experiencing something and then suddenly being able to write a whole piece at a stroke is nonsense. In my experience, composers actually carry a repositary of partially-formed ideas around with them and the event simply provides the trigger to dig one out and refine it or apply other ideas to it. That's why training and technical knowledge are so important as they increase a composer's ability to handle material and see original ways to use it.

Ravel's law is completely correct about the difference between wanting to say something and actually having something to say. If the latter is the case, 'inspiration' as defined by either of us won't be an obstacle.