Jonathan Ellis wrote: >A composer is not writing emotions, but music which may evoke emotions. I agree. >This doesn't mean that the composer has to feel these emotions, >experience them. I'll use an example to respond. Let's assume that I'm a composer, and that my friend's child has died of cancer. Although I have not experienced this loss, I have the capability of imagining the "intense pain" that a parent would feel at outliving one's child. If I were to write music with the intent of conveying this pain, I would draw upon my conception/imagination of the pain. I do not have to actually experience this pain. At any rate, if I was composing effectively, listeners would have the opportunity to "catch" my conception of intense pain from such a loss. Don Satz [log in to unmask]