Fingerprints of Musical Genius

How do we know that a musical composition is truly great? Can we distinguish genius, originality, or inspiration, from competent workmanship, skilful pastiche, or outright fraud? The recent Ed Sheeran case, about the sources of his song “Thinking Out Loud”, raised such questions as what is distinctive as against common-practice material, and what the evidence is of intent to pass off another’s work. After all, most Western music consists of just twelve notes, artfully arranged across a small range of rhythms, registers, textures and forms.

The music history “survey” courses of traditional conservatoires introduce the budding musician to these creative distinctions but in a more cultural, aesthetic, sometimes hagiographic, context. The student probes what makes a Beethoven symphony different, perhaps more skilful, than one by Schumann, or a Wagner opera more original, though perhaps not inherently better, than, say, one by Puccini or Verdi.

Highly analytical study of music…