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

Contemporary multimedia arts project The Seasons celebrates the month of March with a Tchaikovsky piano performance, original poem and new illustration.

Belgian concert pianist Marie François is the creative spirit behind this artistic experience that marks each month of 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

Still Life (March)

It’s March. The rain is coming down.
But for an orange tom, the house is empty.
He’s asleep, which makes it even emptier.

It’s March, the rain is coming down and
the house is empty. I write the words
out on the page. Inserting them like flowers

in a vase. March, house, empty.
And in between, as an aid, the rain.
The drops keep coming, splattering

off the windowpane. It is March,
and in a vase I place: lily,
pussy willow and plumes of grass.

Everything keeps everything in place.
The cat, the house; the rain, the window;
and March, these words: we are. 

Max Temmerman
Translated by David Colmer

Listen to this month's audio recording here