In an interview in July, Mr. Hamlisch talked about the emotional investment he put into each piece of music he composed.

“I’m not one of those people who says, ‘I never read reviews,’ because I don’t believe those people,” Mr. Hamlisch said. “I think they read ‘em. These songs are my babies. And I always say, it’s like having a baby in a hospital, taking a Polaroid and going up to someone and saying, ‘What do you think?’ And he goes, ‘I give you a 3.’ That’s what criticism is like. You’ve worked on this thing forever – ‘I give you a 3.’ And it’s part of you. That’s the bargain you’ve made.”

This is often how artists feel about their work. When critiquing work, who is the expert, why are they the expert and are they really any better than you.

The NY Times tells us Mr. Hamlisch won seemingly every award available in each medium. He was a 12-time Academy Award nominee, for his score and song contributions to films like “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Sophie’s Choice,” and a three-time Oscar winner for the score of “The Sting” as well as the score from “The Way We Were” and its title song (with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman). He won four Emmy Awards and four Grammy Awards, as well as a Tony Award for his score to the musical “A Chorus Line.” That musical, which blended bouncy, brassy songs like “One” and “Dance: Ten; Looks: Three” with melancholy numbers like “At the Ballet,” also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1976.

What an amazingly talented artist!