The Muse Insists

I’m a big believer in not waiting for the muse to strike in my creative work.

I don’t wait for the muse to inspire me to bake bread: I bake bread when the bread bags are empty. In the same way, I do creative work when there is creative work that needs to be done.

That’s part of why I like my Patreon work – I’ve challenged myself to write a new work every month; no waiting for a muse, and no waiting for a commission – just creation on a self-imposed deadline, with supporters keeping me honest.

Even so, sometimes the muse steps up and insists that they be heard from.

I’m currently finishing an arrangement of Irving Berlin’s “What’ll I Do?” for SATB a cappella. In two cases, my muse insisted on choices that I didn’t intellectually want to make.

First, I was really intending to write this piece without a solo. The muse insisted – I literally couldn’t hear the bridge of the piece without hearing a soprano soloist. So a solo there is. Second, I really wanted to keep it at strict 4-part with no divisi. No luck: the muse insisted that the climactic chord of the piece include 5 notes. (Luckily, since it’s got a solo, I know it can’t be sung by a quartet anyway!)

I’m really happy with how it turned out, and I know it’s better because I trusted my creative muse when they offered guidance.