This paper explores the ways in which Theodor Reik develops a highly personal and pertinent method of self-analysis through the course of his work. This analysis always has recourse to a third party known by Reik or with whom Reik has an affinity. The method is particularly well illustrated in his work The Haunting Melody, Psychoanalytic Experiences in Live and Music in which Reik attempts to resolve the enigma of tunes wich become obsessional, even if he does not succeed in doing so completely. The author retraces Reik's explanations and reworks them into a new reading of this phenomenon, indentifying in them a form of “tombeau”, a commemorative musical genre much beloved by composers of the French Baroque.