Kira Nelson: Musician as Subcreator

C.S. Lewis in his essay On Three Ways of Writing For Children draws the reader’s attention to Tolkien and his opinion that “the appeal of fairy stories lies in the fact that man there most fully exercises his function as a ‘subcreator’” (Lewis, 35-36). I was reminded of Tolkien’s thought when riding my bike to class recently. I passed by a student who was playing his accordion, whether for practice or pleasure it was unclear. I felt moved and inspired when I saw him, just for those few moments, totally engrossed in the music he was making. If it had been appropriate, and if I did not have to be in class in a few minutes, I would have stopped for awhile to enjoy it. The song was absolutely beautiful and captivating, something I felt as though he knew to be true himself. He played his instrument with his eyes closed, swaying his head and body from side to side, moving with the music he made. His bodily engagement with the music somehow made his song even more sweet as he played with such passion and enjoyment. I thought to myself that the way this musician played his accordion must not be unlike Lewis as he put pen to paper, remembering that in the same essay mentioned above he had written as though he felt that “a fairly tale addressed to children, was exactly what I must write - or burst” (Lewis, 37). In a similar manner, the musician playing his instrument seemed to me as though the song coming out of him was something he had long desired to release, such that it came out with beautiful, though not rushed, forcefulness. The musician took no notice of me, or seemingly anything else for that matter. I, however, was left with a lasting  impression of a subcreator that fully enjoyed his function.