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AYO Week 2 Blog – Finding Humanity Inside the Music

Have you ever asked yourself why you do music?

From an outsider’s perspective, it probably seems like an odd choice of career: hours spent inside practice rooms, forever-changing schedules and if you’re a freelancer, not knowing when you’re going to get the next gig to pay the rent. So it most likely wouldn’t be everyone’s first choice.

I’ve been pondering this question too over the last year. There have been times where I’ve come out of a lesson where I’ve been grilled on the specifics of an orchestral excerpt, and I just think ‘Am I actually helping anyone by spending most of my day practicing? Who am I serving here?’

And that’s the thing that I’ve realised on this camp; as musicians, we are serving humanity. Humanity’s experiences, expressions and emotions.

I felt this realisation strongly when I heard the first rehearsal of the new works by our camp composers. The composition prompt of ‘colour’ provoked works that gave the audience a glimpse into each of their lives. William Pipe’s Storm and Beauty took us on a storm-chasing adventure. In Ultramarine by Madeleine Hammond, we dived into the depths of the ocean. Jessie Leov’s Night Dances conveyed her family’s love of seeing the Aurora Australis. And Beth Roche’s Refraction, Reflection made us contemplate ‘what really is colour?’

You see, when we listen to music, we are hearing so much more than just sound. We are hearing life.

We can also find life in our music in the smallest details of a piece. When I was observing the Big Bax Quintet rehearsing Sir Arnold Bax’s Quintet for Harp and Strings, their tutor, Lachlan Bramble, often personified the sound he wanted to hear. “Those semiquavers should almost feel like they’re falling over… it’s like a sigh… look for that 1920’s vinyl sound.”

So next time you pick up your instrument, think about the story you want to express. Set aside time to read about the piece, get to know the composer, and if the composer is alive, write to them. While you focus on your technique, have humanity at the centre of your musical practice. If you’re having a bad practice day, remember the world beyond the notes on the page is there, eagerly awaiting your interpretation.

Are you ready to serve humanity with your music? I’m sure you are. Go wild.