What is the mystery that triggers creation? I wrote Grammars of Creation to understand it. But at the end of my life, I still don’t understand.But would understanding mean that you miss out on the art?In a sense, I am happy that I don’t understand. Imagine a world where neuro-chemistry could explain Mozart… It is conceivable, and I find it frightening.
Mozart can be “explained” in terms of musical theory, vibrating strings, displaced air molecules, and the structure of the inner ear as it is; would it really make a difference to add neurochemical jargon into the mix? Or more importantly, would it make the total experience of Mozart’s music any less enthralling to have a conscious inkling of how all these different systems interact to produce it? And how does it follow that art must magically come unbidden from a vacuum in order to have any power at all?