The Seasons – August: Year-long Tchaikovsky series bridging music, poetry and visual art

Contemporary multimedia arts project The Seasons marks the summer month of August with a Tchaikovsky piano performance, an original poem and a new illustration.

Belgian concert pianist Marie François is the creative spirit behind this artistic experience that celebrates the seasons throughout 2026. It commemorates the 150th anniversary of Tchaikovsky’s 12 piano pieces that were originally performed throughout 1876.

This new version features the composer’s works, performed by François, alongside 12 new poems by four writers and 12 illustrations by Juliane Noll. The Dutch-language poems by Lize Spit, Max Temmerman, Ester Naomi Perquin and Joke van Leeuwen are spoken by Koen De Bouw and have been translated into English by David Colmer.

The poems and illustrations are published each month in Flemish daily De Standaard, The Bulletin and on radio NPO4 in the Netherlands. A link at the end of this article provides access to the musical recordings.

Read an interview with Marie François here.

12 months, 12 pieces of music, 12 poems

Enough (August)

The light comes early, tugging on the sheets for us
to descend the stairs naked, reactivate our arms
and legs, discover we have bladders, stomachs. 

We eat slowly. The sun spreads itself over fields, cuts
through water, clings to earth. Long after setting,
it’s still settling in our glasses. 

We toast the harvest once again, repeating after each other: 
now we are secure against blackout and scarcity,
now we have enough. Necessity is solved,
no need to count. 

But yet. Excess is unreliable. A larder with tilting shelves,
teetering jars, entrenched decay.The bones stay scared. 

We go into the granary to check: piled high, the wheat
is almost crushed beneath its weight. Look, so much.
But how much longer? How long? 

Joke van Leeuwen
Translated by David Colmer

Listen to this month's audio recording here

The Seasons is a project by Marie François in collaboration with VONK & Zonen, and made possible by Mercier Van Lanschot.