We Must Create

Description

We must forge our own identity again and again through the creative act. This act could be the stacking of Lego bricks or it could be the composition of a symphony. Composition literally means ‘putting together’ (like playing with Lego!). It is only through this serious type of creative play called ‘culture’, can we find out who we are or who we can be. In my composition, I have recycled music mentioned in the poem, from nursery rhymes to Jimi Hendrix, and music that is not mentioned in the poem, from Dr Dre to George Frederick Handel. I have quoted this music not only because it was particularly apt in the context of the poem, but also to say something more profound to young performers, who are perhaps singing on stage for the very first time: every area of culture is open for your appreciation, with treasures to be explored and then plundered for creative ends to say something new. You are as welcome into the house of Handel as you are into the house of Hendrix—in fact, these two composers lived next door to each other (but two hundred years apart!).