Oratorio ‘Requiem for the Fallen’

Piano Concerto ‘Imagine New york’

Alto Saxophone Concerto ‘Springtime in Chicago’

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand ‘From war to Peace’

Ragtime ‘Brooklyn two-step’

Piano Toccata ’Resolve and Pride’

Spiritual Cantata ‘The Bells of Hope’

Ave Maria.

***

Underlying these various works is a message of hope and respect

My father was a poet. In the midst of World War II, he published a book of poetry in French, the ‘Evangile selon mon coeur’ - The ‘Gospel according to my heart’. It is about Bible stories told through the eyes of a child. The book sheds a tender light of hope at a tragic moment in world history, and was welcome by the public.

Two decades later, as a Belgian teenager, I rode my bicycle through the crosses of Flanders’ war cemeteries. I was thinking of my parents and I had read the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ written during the first World War by the military Doctor, John McCrae.

Decades later, with these indelible memories still on my mind, I composed ‘Requiem for the Fallen’ a vast oratorio for soprano, choir and orchestra based on ‘In Flanders Fields’. It became a tribute to victims of wars and social violence in Europe, America and beyond.

The first version of ‘Requiem’ was played in 2018 in a French town for the Centennial of WWI. Most of the town’s youth orchestra players had a relative who fought in that war. I thought of my father: his earliest memories were about war. I thought of my mother’s Mom: Grandma was a professional soprano from Ghent, in wartime. . *** The expanded version of the Oratorio premiered in New York at Carnegie Hall, in 2019. The event was attended by the Consul of Belgium. Two more performances took place in Moscow: In 2020, the U.S. Embassy underwrote a concert to commemorate the cooperation in WWII. In late 2021, a public concert for peace took place in an art gallery downtown. Afterwards, guests waved ‘heart’ and ‘I love you’ signs to us watching live on the computer from Washington. An Orthodox Bishop, pointing to the golden cross on his chest, said that the Oratorio was ‘Music for Peace’. The Russian people clearly never wanted to start a war but, ten weeks later, tragically, Ukraine was invaded; a war that, by now in its fifth year, is costing more than a million lives…

‘Imagine New York’, the first piano concerto, opened the 2021 concert for peace in Moscow. It evokes my memories of the Statue of Liberty and the discovery of New York City, after landing as an immigrant to meet the family of my fiancee. Little did I know that decades later I would compose a piano concerto to celebrate that aerial view of New York’s Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. . *** After the 2022 Russian military invasion of Ukraine, I decided that the new compositions would offer reflections on hope for peace, inclusiveness, and respect. These works include: the Concerto for Alto Saxophone ‘Springtime in Chicago’ dedicated to my grandson - a saxophonist; the piano Toccata ‘Resolve & Pride’; the Ragtime ‘Brooklyn Two-Step’; and the Spiritual Cantata ‘The Bells of Hope’.

Little did I realize that the world was sliding in a protracted cycle of international wars and domestic violence spreading from Central Europe to the Middle East and to North and South America… This situation led to composing two more works on the theme of hope for peace: first, the second Piano Concerto ‘From War to Peace’ for the left hand, alluding to the violence of war and closing on a swelling bolero celebrating brotherhood. The second work is the Spiritual Cantata ‘The Bells of Hope’ based on moving Native American texts about respect and forgiveness. . *** Videos of the Oratorio ‘Requiem for the Fallen’, the Piano Concerto ‘Imagine New York’ and other works are posted under VIDEOS. Since 2023, pandemic and wars have prevented additional events.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our places; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
in Flanders Fields.

by: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
MD (1872 – 1918)
Canadian Army