Reflections

 Over the last 9 months the melodic ideas that popped into my mind seemed to want to grow first into songs rather than anything else. Usually I tend to focus on one main idea and try to get complimentary ideas and grow from there something to create a composition.  This time the first idea grew into something that was more suitable for a song than something to work variations out of.  This then happened with the next, the next and so on idea and I landed up with 8 new songs.

As a result I came up with 8 new songs.  Looking at them when they were finished they seemed to focus on themes of reflections on my life, what I might consider to be essential experiences for me.  One voice in the song could focus on the theme and the second voice could reflect on it.  As a result these songs are for Soprano and Tenor with a piano as accompaniment.

Once I had them completed I looked at some of my earlier songs to see if they could augment the idea of reflections.  The songs I had written about the experience of losing my wife of 45 years, sadly and unexpectedly early (Lost Love, Thy Will be Done! and Life Goes On) seemed to fit in well.

I also thought it was a good idea to include another song from almost 5 years ago, namely “Love is just a miracle!”  At that time I was enjoying playing around with modulating but I think it fits in well here.  Another one that I decided to include “Searching for Meaning” also fit my new theme very well.

The fact that my wife had wanted me to find a new partner (expressed also in Lost Love) had not been a call for action for me at all to find a new partner.  However over 6 years later I fell in love again and am not living on my own anymore. I wrote a song about that experience as well and have included it in this group of songs as well.

The earlier songs that I now also included were written at different times, one in fact when I was playing around with octatonic scales. The different approaches in harmonies in the piano accompaniment reflect this, but I don’t think this is a problem.

 As usual with my songs I can only hear them on my computer by having the system produce an MP3 file where the soprano is played by a flute and the tenor by a cello. I do hope to find a way to have them performed by actual people and very much hope to be able to do so soon.  It was a great experience for me when I had the first 4 songs recorded at the end of last year.

Song Overview

Why This Life?

If you believe in the existence of a soul then the accident of birth, i.e. into what society and class you were born into and what gifts were part of your setup, like intelligence, looks, and so on surely were important rather than accidental?  The question of whether there is indeed a soul and that there could be meaning beyond the parameters of a specific life has fascinated me for long.  Needless to say I am still firmly at the speculating stage!

Love Is Just A Miracle

What is it that makes love last?  The miracle of love is the transformation from wanting for yourself to wanting for someone else!  You may not even notice it happening!  It took me many many years to learn this!

The Young Hero

Young, we want to make a difference!  We want to fix the problems that we see around us!  We know we can do it!  We want to be heroes!  Isn’t it wonderful!?  I dreamed of being another Albert Einstein and studied Physics because of it.

Blessed Mistakes

I have felt it often and heard it from other too:  “I have been such a failure!”  Blessed are mistakes because how otherwise can you learn and work on yourself?

Search For Meaning

One of the side effects of a mid-life crisis is a new search for meaning.  The demands of day to day life, business and family force you back into action rather than pondering endlessly without ever coming up with the answer you are looking for.  I think it is through living these questions will give you something of an answer, even though quite likely not what you were looking for.

Lost Love

5 years older than my wife I had expected to be the one who would go first.  Losing my wife when she was only 62 was an incredible shock!

Thy Will Be Done!

Finding acceptance in tragedy and grief is hard!

Life Goes On

How to learn to look forward and not only backwards?  I was lucky to find something important to do helping our daughter when she decided to make a difference re Aids in Southern Africa.

Even If Past 64

I got well past 64 before pondering about that Beatles song again.  For me I had started a new life, driven by my love for music and had started again as a beginner, getting into composing music.

Finding New Love

I went to university to study music in Germany and 2 years later by accident met Bir, who also had lost her partner in life and we discovered that we liked to be together.

Together

That, of course, had an effect on the lyrics that popped into my head.

Bittersweet

Appreciating what you are experiencing, never knowing what might happen, living in the moment, can one do this after all you have experienced before?

Memories

Many memories come unbidden.  What does our subconscious want us to do with them?

That’s Life!

How have we changed over the years, learned so much and still can’t claim to understand what the meaning of life might be but accept it with humility!

Anybody For Re-Incarnation

Well, is death the end?  Or is it a door into something else?

I don’t know and I suspect nobody else does either!

Blessed Are

Yes, I do believe the magic to lead a blessed life does exist!  Of course, it is much easier said than done!