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Contrary to my earlier promise to limit the cycle on Vasalis' poems to ten, I would like to present a 'dessert' with the composition on Vasalis' Death. In English translated by me as King Death
You may now be thinking something like "well, it's him again with his melancholy music" - which of course contains a grain of truth. Yet I would like to point out that the nature of this poem goes far beyond the possible melancholy of death or suicide. The poem is in fact an encouragement to take life into your own hands. That's why I also added the subtitle Amor fati to it. Amor fati can be translated from Latin in different ways. Personally, I think the best translation is Embrace the inevitable.
A stoic portrayal of acceptance of life.

The poem reminded me a lot of a poem about an encounter with death that I wrote last year (published in Dutch only).

Whether the music appeals to you, I leave entirely to you of course.

Below you can also listen to a special piano version of this lied. I condensed - upon request - all the instruments (woodwind and strings) into a piano part. Mind you: allthough this piano part is not difficult to play, it also is not only accompaniment, but plays a full blown role in the music. For some choirs this is a more feasible version for performing.

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.

In this cycle of songs have appeared so far:

1. My spring and my love are gone
2. Skeleton
3. Time
4. The Idiot in the bath
5. Autumn
6. Sotto voce
7. Metastases
8. Friend
9. Sense
10. Alienated
11. King Death
In the menu at the top of this page, click on Compositions to go to the different lieder.

On Wikipedia there is more valuable information on Vasalis, might you be curious.

Aristos

The poem

King Death

King Death pointed out to me some small interesting things
this is just a nail - said King Death - and this a rope
I look at him, a child
He is my master
because I admire him and even trust
King Death.

He showed me them all: liquor, pills,
revolver, gastap, attic windows,
a bath, a razor, a white bed sheet
'just so' - in case sometime I wanted
to die.

Before he went, he handed me a little portrait…
'I don't know, if you already forgot,
it might maybe come in handy
in case you do not want anymore
to die,
but who'll stop you?'
said King Death.

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You can get an impression of the lied below.

© 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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