Ralph Waldo Emerson is perhaps better known for his prose than for his poetry. Yet Emerson was no less a master at expressing far-reaching spiritual explorations in poetry that surpassed the Victorian scope of its time. In a language that testifies to his knowledge of Greek Philosophy, Persian Poetry, Medieval Poetry, Botany and Geology, Emerson expresses feelings about life and the environment in which the poet lived. These feelings oftentimes reflect the universal, inescapable facts of life. The truth of his words has not changed since the times in which they were written. Each one of the three poems chosen for the songs reflects on time; its perception, its meaning to mankind and how ultimately it enables us to achieve our goals.

In Life is Great the poet learns that it is no waste to spend a lifetime learning just a small lesson. In Days the poet discovers that time, this precious commodity, can pass in a flash.In My Thoughts he speaks of an avalanche of thoughts that makes us forget time, but nevertheless leads us to a higher level of awareness.

In setting the poetry to music I have attempted to accompany Emerson's rich and suggestive vocabulary with a musical language that, at times, is reflective of the past. However, traditional expectation patterns are often abruptly cut off to make way for unexpected solutions. In this fashion I have "translated" a certain ambiguity that I connect with Emerson's poetry: Clear concepts of a timeless nature are portrayed with archaic expressions or otherwise obscure, eclectic use of the language. Without his particular use of English, the intrinsic effectiveness of Emerson's poetry would be greatly reduced. To me the last is the essence of a synthesist: Saying things that we have all heard before; using tools that we all know; but saying it in a way that is unheard of. The song cycle consists of five movements: An instrumental introduction is followed by settings of Life is Great and Days after which an instrumental intermezzo leads to the final song My Thoughts. This piece was made possible by a commission from the "Stichting Rhijnauwen Kamermuziek festival" in The Netherlands thanks to the generosity of the "HEIDEMIJ" which, for this purpose, provided the "HEIDEMIJ Stipendium 1996".