Program Note

​​When I was eight years old, I played the piano for my grandmother, Virginia LaRosa, for the first time.  Her eyes lit up with joy as she listened, and Nana (as my brothers and I called our grandmother) decided to share both her and her father’s poetry with me in return.  Nana asked me to set the poetry to music one day.  The thought of creating my own original music had never crossed my mind, and shortly thereafter I sat down and wrote my first musical composition.

After composing that first piano piece, I decided that I would not set Nana and Great-Grandfather’s poetry immediately.  I kept the precious poems safely tucked away in a desk until I felt properly equipped to undertake such a meaningful endeavor.  I allowed myself only to read the poems, and resisted the temptation of prematurely beginning work on them.  Ten years after the day my Nana first inspired me, I finally felt ready to begin serious work on the poetry.

I wrote these songs in loving memory of Nana.  If it were not for her, I might not have picked up a pencil and written that first composition—she truly gave birth to my creativity.  Although she passed when I was only nine years old, I remember her blue eyes and loving nature quite vividly.  Songs for Nana is a gift to the entire LaRosa family.

Lyrics

I.  Memories
Text by William R. Martin Sr.

Eagerly I follow the tracing
As the sky and all appears,
Painted with the brush of fancy
Dipped in the coloring of years.

The perfume of the blossoms
And the buzzing of it’s bees,
Is fancied in the scenes
As it all comes back to me.

I see the path my feet have made
Where bare of foot I trod,
The old rail fence the gaping bars
Where daisies friendly nod.

I feel again that something
Which a tongue can never say,
That departed with my youth
And never comes again to stay.

Lost in the years behind me,
Along the path of time,
Where the dream of youth was brightest,
And everything sublime.

I turn to scenes of boyhood youth
Now framed with a golden glow,
And long for days now past and gone
All but forever this I know.

Quite often I find a pleasure
And steal from the busy throng,
Following fancies that wander
To relive where they belong.

Oh could the years turn backward
That made these temples gray,
Could I escape the burdens
And put these cares away?

Life could hold no pleasure
To vie with that for me,
To live the old dreams over
If such a thing could be.

II. The Aging
Text by Virginia LaRosa

She looks in her mirror, but the reflection she sees
Bears no resemblance to the reflection what used to be;
The once honey blond hair has taken an ashen hue,
And glasses now aid the eyes of blue.
Strands of gray have been showing through the hair for awhile
And the dentures she wears completely have changed the smile;

The muscle tones are relaxing and the wrinkles creep
Around the eyes and mouth as even she sleeps.
She carries unwanted pounds totaling more than a few
And these pounds have added a chin or two,
The hips have widened from giving birth
This, and the weight, has expanded both breadth and girth.

The years were filled with wonder as she lived them each day
And never really noticed that person slipping away;
But now she watches, as the image sheds one small tear
Of requiem, for that countenance from yesteryear.

III. Farewell
Text by William R. Martin Sr. and Virginia LaRosa

I wonder will they sing for me
Upon that distant shore,
Will I hear again that chorus
When daylight fades no more,
Reminding me of other days
When I have crossed that sea,
Shall I forget my land of dreams
And all that’s dear to me?
When daylight fades forever
I wonder will I care,
For the things life’s left behind
Will they find a shadow there?
And the scenes my heart doth treasure
Will I dream of them no more,
When smiles become eternal
The sunshine as of yore,
To lay the pangs of yearning
When alas compelled to part,
Will I bid farewell forever
The sunshine of my heart?