Originally Posted by Lord Larehip

Yes, but composers back then had the ability to hear the music as the read it--a skill that is diminishing. Look at Joplin, he would ride trains through the countryside and write that way--never at the piano. Mozart supposedly did not write at the piano or harpsichord either. Gershwin wrote "Rhapsody in Blue" while riding on a train and incorporated the rhythm of the train passing over the tracks into the piece. Beethoven, despite being deaf, could probably hear the music in his head as he wrote it.