ally, this is not so. This distortion is avoided in figure 23.4 by including only
composers who have had careers of 40 years or more, and in figure 23.5 by
includingonly composers who had careersof 55 and 60 years or more.
Figure23.4showsthatcomposersmaintaintheirproductivityatleastthrough
the40thyearoftheircareers.Figure23.5indicatesthatadeclineinproductivity
begins at about 50 years into the composers’ careers. These figures, of course,
do not take the composer’s health into account. If we were to consider only
composers in good physical and mental health, the decline in productivity
might be much less marked. Clearly, productivity can continue far beyond the
50th year of the composer’s musical career. For example, Albeniz’s first mas-
terwork was writtenin the72nd yearofhiscareer!
It is reasonable to ask whether the important factor in the composers’ pro-
ductivity is really preparation or if perhaps the important factor is simply age.
It is conceivable, for example, that composers have to be, say, 16 or 22, before
they can write good music. Perhaps it is experience in life rather than experi-
ence in music that is critical. To test this possibility, I divided the composers
into three groups. The first consisted of 14 composers who had begun their
careersbetweentheagesof3and5.Thesecondconsistedof30composerswho
began their careers between 6 and 9 years of age. The third group consisted of
20 composerswho begantheircareers at 10 orlater.
Figure23.5
Graph indicating a decline in productivity for composers, beginning at about the 50th year of their
careers.
556 John R.Hayes