Stepping out of your Expertise

A reflection and prayer to start the day with Andrea Rea.

Good morning.

Music is my particular passion, but I also admire musicians who can step out of their own area of expertise and embrace other forms of expression.

One such person was the English composer and author Ronald Senator, who was born on this day 100 years ago. Though from a Jewish family, as a young man he explored other religions, and for a time experimented with living a monastic life, after studying music at Oxford.

In 1950, after several bouts of mental illness, he was subjected to a lobotomy – a risky brain operation more common in those days than now which left some patients unable to function. Ronald managed to recover, with difficulty, and continued his career. He became a senior lecturer at London University and later professor of composition at the Guildhall School of Music.

His first wife Dita had survived Auschwitz. Their shared experiences created a strong bond between them. After her death from cancer, Ronald wrote a book, Requiem Letters, an imaginary and haunting exchange between himself and Dita, comparing their lives. He also composed his best-known work, Holocaust Requiem, a choral piece based on the writings of young people who survived the Terezin concentration camp. The work was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Ronald Senator was also a leading innovator in music education, devising a teaching method that connects colour with musical notes. Senator was a polymath, a kind of Renaissance man who used his talents to create thoughtful work reflecting both a world view shaped by suffering, and profound faith in the future.

Lord above, help us to find true value in every aspect of our lives: passion and pain, sound and silence. Let us not be afraid to use these to express ourselves fully and creatively.

Amen