BellaOnline Forums Books and Music Classical Music Playing music back in your head

This may sound rather like a mental health issue but it isn't. I find that I just have to think of the name of a piece of music to be able to start playing it back in my head. To take one example - it's many years since I heard Jack Brymer playing the Mozart Clarinet Quintet K525 with the Allegri string quartet (I think I would have been at University). I found however that there is a CD of it available on Amazon and as soon as I found it I started "hearing" the wonderful smooth sound of Jack Brymer's and Hugh Maguire's playing, almost as though they were breathing with the music. I may say I've ordered the CD. Hughie is a close friend of my parents and as soon as I saw the CD on sale I knew I wanted to hear it again, partly "just because" and partly because I loved that recording.

When I was writing the Mozart operas article just now, I started playing back the Marriage of Figaro overture. And also today I've been "hearing" Debussy's Clair de Lune.

I wondered if other people had similar musical experiences of being able to "listen" to music in their heads.

I'm just the opposite.

A piece of music will start up in my head, and until I can identify what it is - it will just keep replaying over and over again.

It is even worse with choral music; I not only have to identify the title of the song, I must be able to sing the words (at least in my head) before it will go away. And if I miss a word, it just stick there like a broken record! ACK!