peace and fire

Cambridge PGCE Music

saying peace

What makes a fire burn

is space between the logs,

a breathing space.

Too much of a good thing,

too many logs

packed in too tight

can douse the flames

almost as surely

as a pail of water would.

So building fires

requires attention

to the spaces in between,

as much as to the wood.

When we are able to build

open spaces

in the same way

we have learned

to pile on the logs,

then we can come to see how

it is fuel, and absence of the fuel

together, that make fire possible.

We only need to lay a log

lightly from time to time.

A fire

grows

simply because the space is there,

with openings

in which the flame

that knows just how it wants to burn

can find its way.

Fire

by Judy Brown

showing peace

Image 1: Klamath National Forest, Yreka, United States Image 2: Orange Flower Candle

doing peace

The theme today is Peace and our Planet.

As guest hosts, the Music PGCE (teacher training programme) at University of Cambridge, have created 5 peace activities, based on the elements, centred on the theme of peace and our planet. Today's element is fire:

Fire is a process in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air and give out bright light, heat, and smoke; burning. This process can be natural or man-made, and it can be very powerful. Candles are often used as symbols of peace, to calm people or signal hope. Larger fires, however, can also be very destructive and quite the opposite of peace, so it is important for us to think about the difference between these two types.

The poem above talks about how to effectively let a fire burn - by making sure there is space between the logs. When fires get out of control and start to disrupt the peaceful balance of our planet (e.g., large forest fires), space is important to stop the spread. When we think about fires burning within us, passions or anger, space is often what we need to help restore our peace.

What else do you think we could understand by the words of the poem relating to peace, space and types of peaceful or destructive fires?

Here are some activities to try which will help us to think more about fire and how it can be both peaceful yet also sometimes disrupt the peace in our planet.

Composition challenge:

Using any household object try to think about how you can recreate the sound of fire. How can you use musical elements like dynamics (volume) to make it sound like a peaceful fire or a destructive fire. What might the differences be and why?

For example, to create the sound of fire crackling you could use a crisp packet shown in this video. That creates a similar crackling sound. How realistic can you make your sound effect?

Fire - Foley Sound Effect

Arts challenge:

Think about when, where and why fire might be used to symbolise peace. Using coloured paper (or colouring in white paper), cut out the shape of a flames and on each flame write your thoughts, key words, places, and reasons candles might be used. For example; A candle might be used as a source of light and hope to show a sign of peace in a religious ceremony. When you have written on your flames, stick them together onto a new piece of paper to create a peaceful fire.
Now think about when, where and why fire might destruct the peace of our planet, and create a second, contrasting fire. An example is when forests are set on fire or catch fire in the heat, which can ruin the homes of many animals.

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