This is without any doubt my favourite composition and the one I am the most proud of, also and especially since I put the most work in it.
It was inspired by one of my favourite songs when I was young. This time not the Beatles or Ennio Morricone but of a composer whose name may not be very wellknown: Francis Lay. As soon as I specify which song I mean maybe it will ring a bell. I'm talking about the theme of the movie "Love Story", released in 1970.
But there is also something else in "Sorrow" that was inspired by Francis Lay. Once I saw a documentary in which he demonstrated how to create the sound of a balalaika on a piano. For that demonstration he played the theme of "Doctor Zhivago" and I used the same tecnique myself in "Sorrow".

The strange thing about "Sorrow" is that I had completely forgotten about the song. One day my father gave me one of his video-tapes of me playing the piano when I was young. When after a long time I heard the song again it almost sent shivers down my spine. However it was clear that the song then was not finished yet and I never got round to finishing it. But 15 years later I did :o).

I dedicated the song to my mother, for which I have a good reason. The moment I start the balalaika sound when you watch the video my father takes a close-up of my mother and that's what gave me the shivers. My mother... 15 years younger... the piano weeps... A bad period for her and for us all...
One son was in rehabilitation, recovering from a brain tumor operation... me myself being in a mental-institution... And when the piano starts that balalaika sound, and my father takes a close-up of her, it's just like (although hardly noticeably) her head bends slightly... As if all the grief in the world and in our family, which I tried to translate in the song, came down on her and she
understood the message I was putting into the song.

Hope you like this very romantic song.... If you do don't hesitate to listen to my other compositions :o)

With friendly regards....

John Sercu