The following composition by Guy W Stoker was inspired by a poem written by Andy Harrod of (In)visible childlessness. You can read Andy’s initial response below:
I was blown away when Guy W Stoker responded to my post regarding Silent Losses saying that it gave him ideas and the next day he shared his composition with me. I love it myself when I am inspired by others creativity, so to inspire Guy means a lot to me.
Guy’s musical interpretation of Silent Losses was inspired by my positioning of the text ‘Silent Losses’ in my hand drawn score as well as certain aspects within the text. When chatting together Guy noted it begins with the English Horn playing on E and C as this is where the words appeared on my drawing, E (Silent) and C (Losses), before building and then fading out with a single instrument. For me in the middle there is a sense of hope, alongside the melancholy there is joy which can overtake it, but the grief is still around and can and does return. From our conversation there was a sense within our loss we are alone, but that we can feel otherwise in our imagination and connections with others at times, before coming back to ourselves and that sense of loneliness through not having children and being a parent.
Andy Harrod
