Every composer makes distinct emotional, intellectual, and somatic demands on performers. These demands are written into the notes, asking our bodies to take particular shapes and execute specific, sometimes unique, actions, and our minds to understand particular ways of organising sound. I will suggest that our habits of thought regarding these demands are profoundly shaped by cultural constructions of the figure of the composer, as well as by more palpable influences such as current performance practices and lineages of teaching. Some of these habits of thought – especially ways of analysing the notes or understanding how a work fits into an oeuvre – are consciously learned and deployed. Some are less consciously absorbed from the conventional wisdom that attaches to composers concerning their biographies, characters, or the characteristics of their music.