I believe the duty of artists is to passionately pursue the creation of images, songs, and stories that illuminate the world beyond our world. We all know there is more going on than we can see with the naked eye. The arts, in the beauty of human craftsmanship, trigger that deep knowledge inside of us. When composing “The Messiah” George Frideric Handel described this sensation, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the Great God Himself.” To this day the “Hallelujah” chorus still moves human hearts around the world and gives us a peak at the divine.
Still, such “Aha!” moments are extremely rare and the pursuit of them sometimes drives the artist to the edge of insanity. A few years before “The Messiah,” Handel threatened to throw a singer who refused to sing his air “Falsa Imagine” out of a window. He is quoted as saying, “Madam, I know you are a devil, but I would have you know I am Beelzebub, chief of Devils.” The depths of rage and the majesty of “The Messiah” are two sides of the same coin, an artist looking through a glass dimly, striving to drop the veil and reveal the Kingdom of Heaven.
Sometimes the artist succeeds, but most of the time we must live by faith in the unseen.
Chief of Devils
I believe the duty of artists is to passionately pursue the creation of images, songs, and stories that illuminate the world beyond our world. We all know there is more going on than we can see with the naked eye. The arts, in the beauty of human craftsmanship, trigger that deep knowledge inside of us. When composing “The Messiah” George Frideric Handel described this sensation, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the Great God Himself.” To this day the “Hallelujah” chorus still moves human hearts around the world and gives us a peak at the divine.
Still, such “Aha!” moments are extremely rare and the pursuit of them sometimes drives the artist to the edge of insanity. A few years before “The Messiah,” Handel threatened to throw a singer who refused to sing his air “Falsa Imagine” out of a window. He is quoted as saying, “Madam, I know you are a devil, but I would have you know I am Beelzebub, chief of Devils.” The depths of rage and the majesty of “The Messiah” are two sides of the same coin, an artist looking through a glass dimly, striving to drop the veil and reveal the Kingdom of Heaven.
Sometimes the artist succeeds, but most of the time we must live by faith in the unseen.