A few weeks ago I joined a choir. We're currently working on music for a Christmas concert in December, a (slightly bizarre) combination of - amongst other things - ABBA, John Rutter and Enya. Quite what Money, Money, Money has to do with Christmas I'm not sure but it's fun to sing!
The choir director has decided that we have to do the concert without music, a frankly terrifying concept for someone who in fifteen years of piano and orchestra concerts never managed to play anything from memory. Last week we were sent an email containing some rehearsal tracks to help us nail our parts between choir sessions and, desperate for all the help I could get, I followed the links to a collection of MP3s.
What greeted me was a musical travesty. The tracks were a synthised rendition of each piece, totally devoid of musicality so, dismayed, I decided to look for recordings of each track on the internet. Eventually I managed to track down each piece, burnt them onto a CD and stuck them in my bag, ready for my commute to work the following morning.
As I switched the car stereo on that morning, I was greeted by Frida and Agnetha extoling the benefits of finding a wealthy man, followed by Enya singing in Elvish (apparently) and a children's choir belting out the first couple of verses of O Holy Nght.
Then came the sound of strings and the opening of Elgar's The Snow, the voices - spoprano, alto, tenor and bass - quiet yet intense. I tried to tune in to my part but I got lost in the whole, the voices blending with the orchestra to create a seamless sense of forward momentum.
It was inspiring. The harmony, in both the musical and the human senses of the word, made me feel that this was an experience I wanted for myself, that if I kept listening, if I worked out how I fitted into the whole, I could be a part of this.
But it also got me thinking about what I need to do in order for that to become a reality, including taking time between choir practises to learn my words and work on my part. In fairness, I think the horrible synthesised renditions are probably quite a useful way of learning the notes but I suspect they'd leave me never wanting to hear these songs ever again!
We all know Edison's quote about genuis being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration but I'd like to argue in favour of inspiration deserving a bit more credit! I've been reading Stephen Covey's Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People and he talks about the need to begin with the end in mind, to know where you're heading before you set out. He's talking in the context of having a clear vision of where you want to go in life, but he also acknowledge that the basic principle is almost universal. I'd suggest that to achieve anything to the best of one's ability, inspiration is not only a non-negotiable pre-requisite, giving us an insight into where we're hoping to end up, but it's the thing that sustains when things get tough.
Equally, it's all very well being inspired, but unless you're prepared to put some hard graft in, a dream can only ever be a dream.
So I'm grateful that I've found something to inspire me to engage with the process of preparing for our Christmas concert and to give me something to aim for. Now it's just about the perspiration...
