Jeremey McMillan wrote:

>Beethoven unlike Mozart didn't compose easlily.  One part of Mozart's
>genius is that he can compose spontaneuosly in his head and simply write
>down what he already composed.  Beethoven composed in his head, too (of
>course) but he usually wasn't satisfied with the rough ideas that came to
>him.  I read somewhere that his ideas came to him unpolished, they didn't
>come in finished form.  This may be why he carried his ideas with him for
>a long time before finally writing them down.  His choral symphony was a
>good example.  He agonized over some of his works, meticulously sketching
>and revising his works.

Beethoven had a miraculous ability to take great pains over a long period
of time to create a musical moment that sounds completely spontaneous.
His works were anything but spontaneous, but infinite reworking to reach a
kind of perfection.  He spent so long working out his music that whatever
emotion generated a piece, that emotion was long gone before he finished.

Bill S