Music and Creation

Last night I attended a concert in which my daughter performed. She is a french horn player, and is attending Eastern Music Festival for the summer. The concert was phenomenal and was a welcome bit of respite in the midst of our hectic move.

Being a composer myself, every time I hear great music I find myself awestruck at the thought of the composition process. Everything I'm hearing was first heard in someone's head, then had to be brought to life through the writing process - and sometimes a painful writing process. Taking into consideration the entire orchestra, one has to take the 'whole' piece of music in one's head and break it apart into each of the sections, then down to the individual instruments. In the days before computer-aided scoring software, there was merely pen and paper (yes, I actually remember those days!). This made the process of writing slower and more deliberate. But...the end result is oftentimes breathtaking. To me, music is a language that reaches across all societal barriers and weaves humanity into a multi-dimensional tapestry.

I'm not slamming technology here. I'm simply marveling at those who did not have it, yet were patient enough to create such incredible music. Their commitment to see their creation come to life is inspiring.

Which, in turn, makes me think about God. Not that God didn't have technology during the creation process, God just didn't need it. God merely spoke...light, moon, love, ocean, super nova, human, music, potato chip (ok, well maybe not that one)...and it came into existence. And God was, and still is, fully committed to see Creation come into its fullest potential.

God gives us opportunities each day to live our fullest potential through the choices we make. We can choose to love or hate, include or exclude, accept or judge, empower or oppress, share or hoard, believe or doubt, open ourselves up to others or keep others at a distance. God lets us choose how we wish to relate to one another. Sometimes we choose light, sometimes darkness.

I am particularly fond of music and the arts. To me, they reflect the creative character of God - our creator. They seem to transcend time, space, and logic. Sometimes, like last night, when I hear such incredible music, performed by my daughter and her peers, I have to just stop and realize that I cannot explain this. I can only accept this as the gift that it is. I did accept it, and it was beautiful.