18 Mar
The need for creativity – Six Anthems for 2010
What do humans need not only to survive but to thrive? Above and beyond basic biological needs and setting aside spiritual needs for the moment, I’d say these are a few of the essentials:
- The need for music
- The need to dance
- The need for stories
- The need to create
- The need for community
As I was growing up, my need to create was a powerful force. I realised one day that whenever I felt down, my personal therapy consisted of being creative.
I used to sit down with a pad and a cheap, retractable pencil and copy illustrations from ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the Looking Glass and what Alice found there’. I still have the pictures, now in digital format, courtesy of http://www.wiqet.com/
Nowadays, my creative needs are satisfied in a number of different ways including writing music. I sing with my son in Holy Trinity Church Choir and we have performed some responses I wrote several times in the last year.
A CREATIVE CHALLENGE
At the beginning of this year I decided that I would set myself the task of completing six anthems for Holy Trinity Choir in 2010. It is the 800th Anniversary of the Church so it seems like a good idea to mark this personally. I feel that I will only actually succeed in finishing some serious music if I have this kind of deadline – I have been meaning to write properly for many years.
The other reason I feel the time is right for this is the discovery of a free music notation program, Muse Score, which is fantastic. I used to use Sibelius but it’s rather complicated and I can’t possibly afford the updates.
So I am underway with the Six Anthems for 2010. The first is almost complete – Into Thy Hands I Commend My Spirit.
Look out for updates.
