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.

5 Responses to this post.

  1. Posted by Deb Harder on 18.03.10 at 8:35 pm

    What’s w/ the # 6? I have recently had it revealed to me that I don’t have to figure out my whole life (what should I do when I grow up?), I only have to focus on what I need to accomplish over the next six months. There are 3 primary things I need to accomplish; one is almost done (making flower arrangemenst for a friend’s wedding), one is in progress (my largest acrylic painting to date), one is on hold (pottery for communion) to allow my shoulder some resting time. But six keeps popping up as the end goal in one way or an other and not just for myself. Strange.

  2. Posted by Kevin on 18.03.10 at 8:35 pm

    That’s an interesting thought, Deb. I chose 6 anthems so I could do one every two months which I thought was manageable – having second thoughts now as I have not even completed one yet!

  3. [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kevin Mulryne, Kevin Mulryne. Kevin Mulryne said: @peterford Just installed it – looks very good! http://bit.ly/cnvg9B [...]

  4. Posted by John Sutton on 18.03.10 at 8:35 pm

    Have you seen the Ipad app for Alice in Wonderland?

    http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2010/04/reasons-for-literacy-to-love-the-ipad-1.html

    Slide2comment is excellent, by the way, thanks for the tip.

  5. Posted by Kevin on 18.03.10 at 8:35 pm

    Thanks, John. I’d heard that it was on the iPad but this is the first time I’ve seen it – looks fantastic! Good to see the original illustrations (well actually the later, coloured versions) updated in this highly-interactive way.

    Great to connect! Thanks again.

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