The Music of Pain: On Inspiration for the Artist/Composer Beethoven's madness brought on by a combination of personal failure in the rearing of his young nephew and his early hearing loss . Mozart 's inability to accept adulthood and the loss of his childhood fame leading to his ruin. Depression destroying the lives of composers like Mussorgsky and Robert Schumann , and others. Yet, their music lives on, and the music of countless other composers and artists who have transformed tragedy, loss, depression, sadness, failure into masterpieces. Is tragedy a necessary component of great art? Can one be an artist, a creative individual, without having experienced great loss? If life is all a bed of roses, how can the artist truly delve into the deepest throes of darkness, of the soul, in their art? This does not mean that the artist needs to delve into depression or substance abuse. In fact, productivity often comes to a standstill when the creative person does allow t...