Time
— Lieder cycle on poems by M. Vasalis —
A short while ago, while cleaning up my bookcase, I found the book with the Dutch title Ik heb mij nog van geen ding bevrijd ( I have not freed myself from one thing yet ), published by BZZTÔH, which I received as a present from my then partner on April 6, 1984 to celebrate our two years being together. The dedication was still legible on the first flyleaf.
It was a shock and a confirmation at the same time. My admiration for Vasalis' poetry is indeed very old - at least 37 years, given this dating. I was confirmed in my recent desire to put some of Vasalis's poems to music. My partner died of a cerebral infarction at a young age. I'm still alive. Time is that relative.
This third poem in the cycle is therefore called Time . It appeared in the first published collection of Vasalis Parks and Deserts in 1940.
For people who do not know her yet: M. Vasalis is the pseudonym of Margaretha Droogleever Fortuyn-Leenmans. She was a Dutch poet and a psychiatrist by profession. She lived from 1909 to 1998.
In 1982 she was awarded the P.C. Hooftprijs - a renowned literary price in the Netherlands - and in the same year her last poetry bundle was published, as well as a number of novellas which went along.
As early as 1988 I wrote my first composition on her poem Skeleton - a title that may not be very accessible - but that is only an illusion. It's a nice story. You can here listen to that composition and read the poem. I later added a piano accompaniment to it and recently made minor tempo adjustments. The poetess gave me personal permission for the use of that poem at the time and she liked the result very much.
Apart from Skeleton (in this cycle the second lied) there is also the first lied My spring and my love are gone . Published in 1954 in the collection Vergezichten en gezichten (Vistas and faces) . By the way, the first line is My winter and my love are gone . I have chosen the last line as the title.
On this page you will find this third lied Time .
On Wikipedia there is more valuable information on Vasalis, might you be curious.
It was a shock and a confirmation at the same time. My admiration for Vasalis' poetry is indeed very old - at least 37 years, given this dating. I was confirmed in my recent desire to put some of Vasalis's poems to music. My partner died of a cerebral infarction at a young age. I'm still alive. Time is that relative.
This third poem in the cycle is therefore called Time . It appeared in the first published collection of Vasalis Parks and Deserts in 1940.
For people who do not know her yet: M. Vasalis is the pseudonym of Margaretha Droogleever Fortuyn-Leenmans. She was a Dutch poet and a psychiatrist by profession. She lived from 1909 to 1998.
In 1982 she was awarded the P.C. Hooftprijs - a renowned literary price in the Netherlands - and in the same year her last poetry bundle was published, as well as a number of novellas which went along.
As early as 1988 I wrote my first composition on her poem Skeleton - a title that may not be very accessible - but that is only an illusion. It's a nice story. You can here listen to that composition and read the poem. I later added a piano accompaniment to it and recently made minor tempo adjustments. The poetess gave me personal permission for the use of that poem at the time and she liked the result very much.
Apart from Skeleton (in this cycle the second lied) there is also the first lied My spring and my love are gone . Published in 1954 in the collection Vergezichten en gezichten (Vistas and faces) . By the way, the first line is My winter and my love are gone . I have chosen the last line as the title.
On this page you will find this third lied Time .
On Wikipedia there is more valuable information on Vasalis, might you be curious.
Aristos
The Poem
slower than the oldest stone.
It was awful around me
everything shot up, jerked or trembled,
what seems quiet.
I saw the urge with which
the trees forced themselves out of the earth
while they sang hoarsely and jerkily;
while the seasons flew
discoloring like rainbows...
I saw the tremor of the sea
his swelling and shrinking quickly again,
like a big throat can drink.
And day and night for a short time
flame and die: flickering fire.
Despair and eloquence
in the gestures of things,
who are otherwise rigid, and their squeezing,
their breathless, brutal struggle...
How could I not know before
not seeing better in bygone days?
How am I ever to forget it again?
Time
I dreamed that I was living slowly...slower than the oldest stone.
It was awful around me
everything shot up, jerked or trembled,
what seems quiet.
I saw the urge with which
the trees forced themselves out of the earth
while they sang hoarsely and jerkily;
while the seasons flew
discoloring like rainbows...
I saw the tremor of the sea
his swelling and shrinking quickly again,
like a big throat can drink.
And day and night for a short time
flame and die: flickering fire.
Despair and eloquence
in the gestures of things,
who are otherwise rigid, and their squeezing,
their breathless, brutal struggle...
How could I not know before
not seeing better in bygone days?
How am I ever to forget it again?
You can get an impression of the songs below.
I advise you not to listen to the music via a mobile phone, tablet or laptop. That could turn out to be a disappointment, unless you use very good headphones.
For a reasonably acceptable experience, a computer with a good sound system is required!
Please note:
This music is an electronic representation and is therefore not comparable to a human version! For example, one does not hear the words of the sung text by the choir, but only "aah" and "ooh". The instruments, on the other hand, are quite realistic thanks to the latest electronics. It remains, however, that the whole of the interpretation of the conductors/musicians is missing and therefore may sound somewhat sterile
This music is an electronic representation and is therefore not comparable to a human version! For example, one does not hear the words of the sung text by the choir, but only "aah" and "ooh". The instruments, on the other hand, are quite realistic thanks to the latest electronics. It remains, however, that the whole of the interpretation of the conductors/musicians is missing and therefore may sound somewhat sterile
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© The complete copyright of the music (also this electronic version) has been deposited. This means that you can only listen but not use it nor partially, nor completely for your own purposes. Let alone that you use it for your own performances or productions.
For citation rights please contact the publisher and the Buma/Stemra organization in the Netherlands.
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You can listen to the works wherever you have Internet, one after the other or individually.
If you subscribe, you will receive an email from Youtube when I have added a composition.
Click on the icon below.
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Site created by: © Galaxa Design - copying the site, or any part of the content, music or images is prohibited without prior written permission of the publisher. To contact the publisher, please use Galaxa Media Publishing House. To contact the composer use Aristos Bouïus.
Site created by: © Galaxa Design - copying the site, or any part of the content, music or images is prohibited without prior written permission of the publisher. To contact the publisher, please use Galaxa Media Publishing House. To contact the composer use Aristos Bouïus.
Here you can find the list of compositions on poems by M. Vasalis on YOUTUBE: