Diederick Van Eck releases musical interpretation of Van Gogh works

Her face has a look of peaceful acceptance, her posture a sense of stoic forbearance, and in "La Berceuse," Vincent Van Gogh painted his ideal of the universal mother. So says performer/producer Diederick Van Eck, whose album 'Van Gogh by Van Eck' is a musical interpretation of 12 of the artist's best-known works.

The artist's "La Berceuse" ("The Lullaby"), an expressive array of blue tones beautifully reproduced in the 44-page art book included with 'Van Gogh by Van Eck,' portrays Mme. Roulin, the wife of the postman in Arles, where Van Gogh lived for many years. In the song "Mother O Mother," inspired by the painting, Van Eck imagines Van Gogh creating a lullaby to a mother from a lonesome and longing child far away.

"Mother O Mother," Van Eck sings tenderly, accompanied by a hushed piano and aching strings, "I feel you beside me/ Hold me and gentle me/ Watch me and guide me/ Mother O Mother, who ever loved me/ Or knew me as true as you?"

The song, and the album, would be a lovely gift for any mother.

Van Gogh by Van Eck,’ Van Eck’s imaginative musical rendering of Van Gogh’s art, life and passions, interprets the artist in songs based on 12 of his most famous paintings. The album, which includes a deluxe, 44-page art book produced with the participation of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, has sold 50,000 copies in Holland and is now available through iTunes, BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon and at retailers around the U.S., including many museum shops.