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Your Song!
In case you hadn't noticed...
I love to sing. A lot. What I love even more is putting poetry to song.
A poem can say so much in such a compact way. My marrying poetry to music began casually when finding a poem in a newsletter and hearing the music in my head while reading. This was followed by requests from people to find music to their favourite poems,or a special poem they wrote about the loss of a child. It gradually grew into a full blown love affair, one that continues to be fed by an steady stream of poems that weave their way into my repertoire of songs.
I now see it as a gift which I gratefully open myself up to. It never feels like work, the process is magical, and the result time and again awe inspiring. When I'm composing music to poetry is when I feel most alive, when time and space fall away, and I am most in tune with all that is.
Are you...
...the recipient of a lovely poem that a loved one wrote for you and is begging to be turned into music?
...a poet and would it be a dream come true to have one or more of your poems put to music?
...in love with a particular poem you first read perhaps years ago and which continues to speak to you like nothing else, and you would love to have it available as a song or even be able to sing it yourself?
I cannot wait to read your poem and start composing. Have a look at the poems below and take your time to listen to the sound clips. If they resonate and you feel a pulling inside, send me a message. Make sure to enclose your poem. I will look at it and let you know if I can hear the music in my head. If so, we'll meet on Skype to make an energetic connection, and if it feels right we can discuss the details.
A few examples
Here are some music clips of poems I put to music, either commissioned or because I simply couldn't help myself!
This first poem was originally written in Dutch. I put the Dutch poem to song and then translated it to English.
I bow my head as a student of life
My path is lit as I do what I must do
At times I’m longing for the twilight
Which is neither day or night
My soul’s task is rocked in its calling
And tells me continually
There is light
I feel like a nocturnal butterfly
The light serving as a compass
The break of dawn sends out its rays
like a knocking on my door
Acceptance opens up the crystal
For paradise to be connected
To the place
To the place where I am at, my place of rest
I bow my head as a student of life, I bow my head
I bow my head to the overwhelming mystery
I bow my head
© Ingrid Gans/Peter Asscheman