Years ago, when I was a student at the university of Antwerp, I attended a course on Irish poetry taught by guest lecturer Brendan Kennelly (yes, the famous Irish poet). What a passionate course that was! Professor Kennelly made us stand on a chair and read out loud Irish poems with a great sense of drama. After a couple of weeks, he asked whether any student would be willing to put a Yeats poem to music. I took on the challenge and composed three songs (“Lullaby”, “The song of wandering Aengus” and “Crazy Jane on God”). All students and professor Kennelly sang the songs in class every week.

Over the past years, I have added songs to the collection. In Summer 2022, I finally was able to record the songs with Brandies Band. A dream come true.

We lovingly dedicate this album to the late Brendan Kennelly (1936-2021)

Kris Van den Branden, August 2022