Dream music

Often I have dreams that feature new music.  Sometimes I am playing long splendiferous original pieces on the piano other times I am simply composing a tune in my mind whilst sleeping.  The music arrives fully formed and free flowing.  During the dream I am filled with a certainty that this is the one - this is the music I have been waiting for, the tune to end all tunes, the song to complete all songs.  They are happy dreams, rich with creative energy and a feeling of authenticity.

It would be great to wake up and sit at the piano and compose the pieces from the dream of the night before.  I imagine it would be like painting a colour by numbers, just filling in the notes and recording the melody as it flows straight out of my brain.  If only.  Although sometimes in the dream I seem to make an effort to pin the tune down in order to remember it later, in the morning it has vanished like mist in the sun.

But I know the essence is still there.....the music exists in my inner world and hearing it at night proves it.  Perhaps the dream music is like a storehouse of all the inspiring musical ideas my brain has picked up over time, interwoven, mixed up, re-invented.

Perhaps the essence of this dream music filters in to the next song that I will write.  My real task then is to make time to sit down, with pen and paper, instrument and recording device, turn off the distractions, set the process in motion and let it flow.......

Do you dream of music?  How do you re-capture musical inspiration?