Sometimes, when I am asleep and dreaming, I experience orchestral music. It sounds like a wonderful symphony, but one that I have never heard before.
When I wake up, I have the distinct impression that I had been to a concert, experiencing the offerings of an exciting composer, as interpreted by a great orchestra. But that’s generally as far as the memory goes.
This raises questions in my mind. Did I actually experience music? Was there a structure within my head that was in some sense equivalent to a musical score?
Or was it all entirely an illusion, a trick of the mind? Was my brain merely creating some sort of short circuit process, pushing some inner button labeled “feels like symphonic music?”
Maybe I will never know.
I met a brilliant musician who said that he hears orchestral music running through his head often when he is awake. But usually of songs that he already knows. I think some brains are just wired for music and to hear such music is a gift!