Dear Cousins,
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: Artists get way too much credit.
Even without the artist there still exists in nature a constant variation of pitch, melody, harmony, articulation, counterpoint, dynamics and tonal character. These might be offered randomly. But they are also orchestrated into our old favorites with the titles: Thunder, Rain, Birdsong, Babbling Brook, Rustling Leaves, Whistling Wind, Barking Dog, and even modern hits like; Rushing Waters of Global Warming, Hail on My Tesla and the less popular, Wind in my iPhone. (They don't write them like they used to).
NATURAL PHENOMENON
This phenomenon in nature is beautiful, moving, uplifting, awe inspiring, exciting, and wildly expressive. This is the dance of the ecstatic musical elements, as they exist in nature. And then, as witnessed by early man/woman; A twig falls on hollow log, the wind crosses a bamboo shoot and we in turn bang on the log and blow across the bamboo shoot. The craftsman tightens a string across a gourd and plucks it. Nature has supplied us with a profound medium of experience and expression. The artist gets to rearrange these elements of music (pitch, tone, dynamics, ...) to his/her own delight. What a gift, what an honor.
WHAT GLITTERS IS STILL GOLD
A sculptor creates a statue out of gold. It can be in any shape. It can be an icon of a beautiful hero or a brutal weapon that has no compassion, but either way the artist and the observer experience the luster of the gold. "How magnificent how beautiful." But the luster is not coming from the design nor the artist's genius. The artist shapes the gold to his/her own delight - what good fortune to work in gold.
THE POWER AND BEAUTY OF MUSIC
The profound power and beauty of music is inherent in the dance of the ecstatic musical elements that the artist gets to rearrange to his own delight. How fortunate. I am pleased to no end with the recognition I receive from my work. I know what I've done and compared to what the medium of music has to offer, it is very little. So I bow to the muse because I know whom I serve and where the gratitude should be directed. That's why I say;
"I am riding the tsunami of the power of music till it crashes upon the shore."
Your own Cousin,
Corky
P.S. Comments welcomed