"Yet our experience of Beethoven's string quartets would be diminished if we discovered he had stumbled upon someone else's rules for musical composition, which he applied mechanically". (p. 38 of https://archive.org/details/examinedlife00robe/page/n15/mode...)
I guess another way to put the question is this. Suppose there is an alien civilisation where their brains are hard-wired to make Beethoven level music automatically. Most of us can hum a tune without effort: these aliens can hum music that would strike us as original and compelling without much effort. How would we react then?
Plus: nice pointer on the math scholar link. I remember loving the musical parts of Godel Escher Bach. Wish there is a good interactive website where I can revisit all the content (and listen to all the music) there in the browser.