The Sound (and Form, and Color, and Joy) of Music

What is it like to create music, on both a technical and emotional level? This week Big Think presents a fascinating tour inside the mind and heart of one of America’s most distinguished composers, Grammy Award winner Maria Schneider.

In explaining her creative process, Schneider spoke largely in visual-spatial terms, describing the “almost architectural” approach she takes in creating “sculptures” of sound. At the same time, she described the parts she writes for individual orchestra members as love gifts to her fellow musicians. Revisiting her early days as an artist, she tapped even deeper into the emotional and imaginative roots of her art, recalling the piano teacher who first inspired her and the phantasmagorical world music opened up for her in her sleepy corner of Minnesota.