Anne Vanschothorst: That I Did Always Love
Big Round
Records
Dutch harpist Anne Vanschothorst has clearly found a kindred spirit in American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-86). Despite being separated from her by significant temporal and geographical distance, Vanschothorst has distilled the essence of the writer's sensibility into the mesmerizing That I Did Always Love. With Annie Einan reciting a number of Dickinson's poems in harp-based soundscapes fashioned by Vanschothorst, listeners will feel as if they've stepped into the poet's world and are hiking through the Amherst countryside, breathing in its replenishing air and taking in its sights and sounds—even if after the age of thirty the reclusive poet spent most of her time indoors. Of course, immersing oneself in the gorgeous nature settings of The Hague isn't all that far removed from doing the same in Massachusetts. Living where she does, the harpist is near the birds, buzzing flies, and rustling winds that accent the sound paintings on the album.
There's a stillness and calm to this music that's conducive to reverie and contemplation. Einan's calm, sober readings of the seven poems reinforce that quality, whilst also deepening the transporting effect of the material. While the pieces are as expansive as the outdoors, they're also intimate in the way they connect with the listener. Dicksinson's words naturally lend themselves to the treatments the harpist has devised for them. In place of performances focusing on virtuosic display, Vanschothorst's are on poetic expression and creating sound design complementary to Dickinson's writing. Graceful harp patterns, plucks, scrapes, slides, and strums operate as the orienting centre around which other elements constellate, be they chirping birds, ominous nature rumblings, or the crunch of outdoor footsteps.
The attraction of the poet for the harpist doesn't stem only from her words but from the life Dickinson lived and the differences between women's lives then and now. Only ten of her approximately 1800 poems were published during her lifetime, with hundreds shared with friends and correspondents and the greater number kept to herself. After her death, her sister Lavinia found a treasure trove of poems in Emily's room and dedicated herself to getting them published. Her timeless reflections on love, death, and immortality—“Ah Little Rose – how easy / For such as thee to die!” (“Nobody knows this little Rose”) and “That love is life – / And life hath Immortality” (“That I did always love”) merely two examples of many—resonate as powerfully today as ever.
While the album is largely a solo Vanschothorst production, others beyond her and Einan contribute. Maarten Voss is credited with mixing and production on “Where have all the birds gone?,” a mournful setting that conjoins strings and (what sounds like) theremin to harp, and “Higher she flies without feet!,” a pretty reverie that likewise augments Vanschothorst's playing with shimmering atmospheric textures; Bert Barten is also listed as the co-composer of “There's a certain Slant of Light” and “Trees of mercy,” both of which weave electronic elements into the musical fabric. All praise to Vanschothorst for conceiving such an imaginative and original project and bringing it so splendidly to fruition. That I Did Always Love is an arresting music-and-text creation that both honours Dickinson's enduring artistry and the harpist's talents as a conceptualist, composer, and, of course, musician.December 2023