Scott's published writings on the subject of music span a good deal of his life and appear in the form of articles in British and American journals, published lectures, and several monographs. Often the monographs represent a culmination of views expressed previously in various articles. This process invites a decidedly organic reconstruction of the philosophical path taken by Scott in the formulation of his theory. From this, it becomes clear that Scott continuously re-cast his aesthetics in a character suited to his spiritual quest and in reflexive interaction with the public reception of his musical works.

In his writings on music, Scott commented generally upon styles of the past, present and future, the musical landscape of Britain and other countries, the musical perception of audiences, the qualities of an ideal composer and processes of composition (including inspiration, intuition and receptivity—discussed under the broad heading of “musicality”), concepts of beauty, his colleagues and contemporaries, musical expression, the effect of war on music, and occult aspects of music. Though labyrinthine, the development of Scott's theory was supported by certain consistent concepts that were continuously revisited during these discussions. One of the most prominent of these “golden threads,” and indeed the idea to which everything he wrote on the topic referred either directly or indirectly, was his concept of the “immortal artist.”