Jij bent van jou = You are of You, 1967 - 2022

Ic seg adieu - I say goodbye is the first of three stanzas, most likely written in the 16th Century by the nobleman Willem van Zuylen van Nijevelt. The poem has been published with a melody line in 1540 in the collection "Souterliedekens". The Souterliedekens -: Psalter-songs was a Dutch metrical psalter, published in Antwerp in 1540, which was widely in use throughout the century. According to Wikipedia, the metrical rhyming psalms were, probably, arranged by the Utrecht nobleman, Willem van Zuylen van Nijevelt (d.1543). The melodies he chose were from the Low Countries, many of them being of German or French origins. This publication has great value, because the publisher (Symon Cock) not only added the phrase 'sung to the tune of...' but also provided the actual melody lines with the texts.

Although many polyphonic settings were made and still survive, Huijbers chose an unadorned setting, for which he wrote the accompaniment. His evolution of composing originated in Gregorian chant, resulting in sacred music for the Jesuit Ignatius community and school. In collaboration with Oosterhuis, his vernacular song settings began in the Protestant hymnary tradition, which he would lavishly orchestrate for choral and organ voices. Gradually, he turned to Dutch folk and national songs as popular settings for Oosterhuis' texts, before he developing his own distinctive idioms. In his mind, since there was no such thing as 'originality', he would happily 'steal from' the great composers (who had stolen from everybody else!) when appropriate.

Oostrehuis' title is Jij ben van van jou - You are of you, an onbssious [sic] early reflection on God from God. I have preserved his rhyming scheme (aa, bb, cc), but inevitably, his poetry fails to translate linguistically into English. I have taken care to preserve the essence of each line, and the overall totality of the poem. This is the story of a dream, about the onachterhaalbaar eigen - unachievably Own, impossible to know, and oneself, who is likewise unique. The dream alludes to wrestling with God as did Jacob in Genesis 32:23-33), and the dream concludes the the feeling that a life in unity with God is achievable. Yet it disperses in the cold reality with the awakening dawn, with a lingering ache in the heart.

- Tony Barr