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

Contemporary multimedia arts project The Seasons marks the summer month of July 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

July

Bretagne. Scattered hollyhocks
and three-thousand-year-old lichen.
A sight I’ve never seen: flowers 

following the arc of the sun, the sea 
a series of coves with each a different,
newer blue. The future? The sum 

of variants under a sky-high 
brimful with lighter-blue life
(you’re reading words I’ve dreamt).

I cut hydrangeas to take home with me.
Dried memories in red, dark blue
and purple. Not stolen, souvenired. 

Max Temmerman
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.