> I stand firm that the latter day Beethoven would have had no trouble with it (technically; obviously not being able to hear is torture for any musician). If

> I stand firm that the latter day Beethoven would have had no trouble with it (technically; obviously not being able to hear is torture for any musician). If "it" means "transcribing from one's head" the evidence-- fascinating, fun to read and analyze evidence-- points in the other direction. Composition didn't come easy to composers like Beethoven and Brahms, and they spent years working on it. For Bach and Mozart, there is a variety of evidence that all points not only to their ability to "transcribe in their heads," but also to somehow imagining fully-formed phrases, sections, and even full pieces, all while incorporating new musical sounds, in their heads. Their music seems to be more or less sophisticated based on context and requirements, and not so much (or at all) on time allotted to write. There's really no other way to explain things like the triple dance (in 3 different meters!) in Don Giovanni being written in about a day, again with no pre-compositional scribbles. There are many more examples in the manuscripts. In fact, for a long time scholars assumed a "compositional evolution" with Bach to arrive at a chronology for the cantatas that expressed that evolution. Scholars in the 1950's used forensic evidence to show that long-standing chronology was wrong. Apparently, this caused an enormous controversy because it left Bach scholars with no way to explain Bach's compositional development. Finally, among other things, this distinction is a reason Beethoven's music dominated in the latter half of the 19th century. As a composer would you rather follow a path of using small, self-contained groups of notes to divide and conquer complex forms, developing slowly and surely toward mastery as you practice? Or would you rather try holding all the music you've ever heard in your head, attempting to re-organize and write variations in your memory, then then transcribe the most fitting parts you came up with for the task and hand and blindly hope what you came up with is at all coherent?