When I was a schoolboy, I discovered a book of poetry by Heinrich Heine. The poems had been lovingly translated into English by Robert Garran. A few years later, I set some of them to music. Unfortunately, the present song is all that remains. It was originally called Wenn zwei voneinander scheiden.

 

In 1995, my good friend Belinda Webster decided to organize a concert in celebration of Gerald English’s seventieth birthday. I revised the song especially for the occasion. Gerald and I have known each other for many years: we first met in 1960, at the Attingham Park Summer School in Shropshire.

P.S.