More Love, More Love
by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Sorrow is how we learn to love.
—Rita Mae Brown, Riding Shotgun
If sorrow is how we learn to love,
then let us learn.
Already enough sorrow’s been sown
for whole continents to erupt
into astonishing tenderness.
Let us learn. Let compassion grow rampant,
like sunflowers along the highway.
Let each act of kindness replant itself
into acres and acres of widespread devotion.
Let us choose love as if our lives depend on it.
The sorrow is great. Let us learn to love greater--
riotous love, expansive love,
love so rooted, so common
we almost forget
the world could look any other way.
Where does creativity begin? In one of the biggest projects of my life, the poem above was the first seed. It was planted on May 31, 2020 as I read the daily post sent out by the extraordinary Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. I returned again and again to these words over the hard months of that first pandemic year. Then, last fall, as I stood in front of the paintings of sunflowers, irises and almond blossoms at the Van Gogh Musuem in Amsterdam, the words erupted inside of me.
The sorrow I felt looking at Van Gogh's last painting- Roots, unfinished because he shot himself later that day- was so intense that I had to do something. What? How could I "choose love" in the face of this long-ago tragedy that began to haunt me? I began to write music: love songs of lamentation for this tragic genius whose art continues to echo across the centuries to open our eyes to wonder and beauty. I wrote and I wrote, each solo piano piece emerging as a response to both Vincent's life and his art. Quickly the idea sprang up to create a multimedia production, wedding music and image together, that I would offer as a memorial across the centuries to Van Gogh on the anniversary of his death on July 29, 2022.
At some point, I had a deep and moving conversation with Rosemerry and then it occurred to us: she could also write poems in response to both the images Van Gogh painted and the music I had composed. And so a trio was born: a contrapuntal conversation across 130+ years and two continents: musings and meditations on nature, dreams, death, grief and most of all, hope and love. Love Letters for Vincent, was broadcast on the anniversary of Vincent's death on 29th. It was a heartfelt communal ritual of creativity where we shared Vincent's images, Rosemerry's poems and my piano music-- and the audience was also invited to write their own love letters to Vincent, The response was so incredibly heartening. "A completely life changing experience", wrote several audience members. "I have no words for the beauty, power and depth of this masterpiece" wrote another. Many urged us to offer this program to museums around the world, a suggestion we are eager to embrace.
As we created Love Letters for Vincent we discovered a process that has brought us both delight and joy in the midst of darkness and sorrow. You can learn about this on The Art of Creative Collaboration Video (click here to watch) as we gave a behind the scenes look how our project unfolded.
We are finishing post production on an audio album and a video of both the music and poetry together. In the meantime, below is a sneak peek of some of the pieces of this suite, along with all of Rosemerry's heart-opening and unbearably beautiful poems in the file below..
by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Sorrow is how we learn to love.
—Rita Mae Brown, Riding Shotgun
If sorrow is how we learn to love,
then let us learn.
Already enough sorrow’s been sown
for whole continents to erupt
into astonishing tenderness.
Let us learn. Let compassion grow rampant,
like sunflowers along the highway.
Let each act of kindness replant itself
into acres and acres of widespread devotion.
Let us choose love as if our lives depend on it.
The sorrow is great. Let us learn to love greater--
riotous love, expansive love,
love so rooted, so common
we almost forget
the world could look any other way.
Where does creativity begin? In one of the biggest projects of my life, the poem above was the first seed. It was planted on May 31, 2020 as I read the daily post sent out by the extraordinary Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. I returned again and again to these words over the hard months of that first pandemic year. Then, last fall, as I stood in front of the paintings of sunflowers, irises and almond blossoms at the Van Gogh Musuem in Amsterdam, the words erupted inside of me.
The sorrow I felt looking at Van Gogh's last painting- Roots, unfinished because he shot himself later that day- was so intense that I had to do something. What? How could I "choose love" in the face of this long-ago tragedy that began to haunt me? I began to write music: love songs of lamentation for this tragic genius whose art continues to echo across the centuries to open our eyes to wonder and beauty. I wrote and I wrote, each solo piano piece emerging as a response to both Vincent's life and his art. Quickly the idea sprang up to create a multimedia production, wedding music and image together, that I would offer as a memorial across the centuries to Van Gogh on the anniversary of his death on July 29, 2022.
At some point, I had a deep and moving conversation with Rosemerry and then it occurred to us: she could also write poems in response to both the images Van Gogh painted and the music I had composed. And so a trio was born: a contrapuntal conversation across 130+ years and two continents: musings and meditations on nature, dreams, death, grief and most of all, hope and love. Love Letters for Vincent, was broadcast on the anniversary of Vincent's death on 29th. It was a heartfelt communal ritual of creativity where we shared Vincent's images, Rosemerry's poems and my piano music-- and the audience was also invited to write their own love letters to Vincent, The response was so incredibly heartening. "A completely life changing experience", wrote several audience members. "I have no words for the beauty, power and depth of this masterpiece" wrote another. Many urged us to offer this program to museums around the world, a suggestion we are eager to embrace.
As we created Love Letters for Vincent we discovered a process that has brought us both delight and joy in the midst of darkness and sorrow. You can learn about this on The Art of Creative Collaboration Video (click here to watch) as we gave a behind the scenes look how our project unfolded.
We are finishing post production on an audio album and a video of both the music and poetry together. In the meantime, below is a sneak peek of some of the pieces of this suite, along with all of Rosemerry's heart-opening and unbearably beautiful poems in the file below..
| love_letters_to_vincent_final_rosemerry.docx |
Vincent Van Gogh, Impasse de Deux Freres, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Courtesy Van Gogh Foundation
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Click below for "Moulin de la Galette" |
Van Gogh, Fishing Boats of Saintes Maries de la Mer, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Courtesy Van Gogh Foundation
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Click below for "Bateaux de Saintes Maries de la Mer"
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Van Gogh, The Bedroom, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Courtesy Van Gogh Foundation
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Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night, Google Art Project
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 Vincent Van Gogh, Wheatfield with Crows, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Courtesy Van Gogh Foundation
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Click below to listen to "Wheatfield with Crows"
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Please note that all music is copyrighted.