Van Gogh

Tony Norman’s stage musical ‘Van Gogh’ is the most complex and demanding work he has ever undertaken.

“I have been fascinated by Vincent’s life and work since my schooldays,” says Tony. “One of my best friends, Alex Sommerville, gave me a paperback of Vincent’s letters to his brother Theo. In these letters, Vincent poured out his thoughts, passions and frustrations. They provide a fascinating insight into his life.

“I wrote the first song for the Van Gogh musical just before Christmas 1994. It took a long time to complete the work to my own satisfaction, but it was a brilliant challenge. I loved it. Now, of course, my dream is to see the music come alive on-stage.”

Tony is working hard to make that dream become a reality. He is backed by an excellent creative team. Paul Lynton is Tony’s manager. Philip Herbert, of Hamlins, is one of London’s top show business lawyers. Andrew Charity is a teacher at RADA and an outstanding musician in his own right. Paul, Philip and Andrew are determined to bring Tony’s ‘Van Gogh’ to the general public. In the meantime, you might like to read Tony’s research notes from a vital trip to France, which proved to be a springboard to completing ‘Van Gogh’...

Van Gogh Research in France

I spent three weeks touring France with my wife Melanie, visiting various Van Gogh landmarks. We spent two of those weeks in Arles and the surrounding area. Provence is pivotal to the life story of Vincent van Gogh.

In Arles, a clearly marked walking tour guides visitors to key locations where Vincent painted some of his most famous canvases. Vincent’s home - the original Yellow House - was bombed in World War 2, but the surrounding area remains largely unaltered since Vincent’s day.

His home was just 400 metres from the banks of the Rhone, where he painted the night sky above the river. A five minute walk through the ancient Roman walls of the city brings you to the small square where Vincent painted the Night Café. Walking the streets where Vincent lived and worked was fascinating.

Tony outside the street café in Arles Provence, immortalised in Van Gogh’s classic canvas,Café at Night. I spoke to various people in the city about Van Gogh’s life there. A very clear picture emerged. Through the spring and summer of 1888, Vincent was absorbed by his work. The local people were cold towards him, but during the glorious summer he put all this to the back of his mind. When autumn closed in, the hostile environment he was trapped in started to bite. He was lonely and troubled.

Vincent put all his faith in the arrival of his artist friend Paul Gauguin, but they clashed bitterly. This climaxed in Vincent’s act of self-mutilation, just before Christmas 1888. We visited the hospital where Vincent was taken. It is on the far side of the city from the Yellow House. I could picture that desperate dash through the night.

Amazingly, just weeks after that traumatic night, Vincent was producing superb, gentle and lyrical paintings of the hospital gardens. As I sat in that garden, I knew for certain that Vincent was not the crazed madman, so often depicted in books and films.

In fact, it was a Doctor Rey, at the hospital in Arles, who first saw the truth of Vincent’s condition. Van Gogh was a depressive, subject to violent seizures. Once the crisis had passed, the poetic side of his character would swiftly reinstate itself.

I imagined Vincent painting in the quiet hospital garden. Demons now far from his mind .. for the time being. But the people of Arles did not want him living among them. They saw him as a madman and showed no mercy as they drove him out of the city.

The attitude towards Van Gogh is very different today. Arles celebrates Vincent’s life in the city in many ways. Anne Clergue is the Director of the Fondation Vincent van Gogh - Arles. Anne’s gallery houses a collection of work by artists from around the world, inspired by Vincent. The exhibits include work by Francis Bacon and David Hockney. Anne Clergue is an accepted authority on Vincent van Gogh.

I was keen to talk to her about my interpretation of Vincent’s life, especially his time in Arles. I described the story-line for Van Gogh – A Modern Opera in some detail. Certain aspects of Vincent’s life in Arles, are unclear. What was the truth behind his violent clashes with Paul Gauguin? Why did he cut off his left ear?

I have formulated my own view, based on research. I was keen to hear Anne’s thoughts on my interpretation. Born in Arles and with an expert knowledge of Van Gogh, she was the perfect person to give a considered opinion. Anne listened to my ideas with interest. I now quote her reaction from our taped conversation in Arles.

ANNE CLERGUE : “IT SOUNDS GREAT ! THE WAY YOU TELL THE STORY HAS A LOT OF WARMTH. I THINK IT IS VERY INTERESTING YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT HEART. THAT’S VERY IMPORTANT. YOU TALK ABOUT A MAN WHO HAS A LOT OF WARMTH IN HIS HEART AND WHO HAS A HARD TIME IN THIS AUSTERE WORLD. “

Obviously, I was delighted by Anne’s positive comments. When we parted, I gave her a cassette of songs from the show. She emailed me from France to say how much she enjoyed the music. This meant a lot to me.

The year Vincent spent in Arles was the most fascinating of his life. It is central to his story and I found the visit there invaluable. It gave me an insight into Vincent’s world. It also served to underline my belief that my interpretation of this part of the narrative is both balanced and entirely credible. In Arles, he was always on the outside.

Les Saintes Maries de la Mer

During our stay in Provence, we drove across the Camargue to visit the small town of Saintes Maries on the Mediterranean coast. Vincent painted some excellent seascapes here, but I was particularly interested in his painting of a Gypsy Encampment, made in June 1888.

In my musical, I have a group of gypsy musicians in the brothel in Arles and I wanted to be sure the gypsy connection was authentic. We soon discovered that gypsy families still travel the Camargue. We saw them on the streets on Saintes Maries. Later the same day, we went for a walk along the River Rhone, back on the outskirts of Arles and found a gypsy encampment on the banks of the river. I now know, as earlier research had indicated, our use of gypsy rhythms and guitars in the Arles section of Van Gogh is totally accurate and justified.

Saint - Remy - de - Provence

This is the small town where Vincent came after Arles to rest in an asylum - Le Cloitre St-Paul Mausole. I wanted to confirm that patients in the asylum were cared for by nuns, as I had in mind some ecclesiastical musical themes for this section.

Tony meets Marie-Charlotte Bouton, official Van Gogh guide in St-Remy-de-Provence.
We visited the asylum with local guide, Marie-Charlotte Bouton. Marie is a journalist and Van Gogh expert. She has written her own illustrated book on Vincent’s time in Provence. During our tour of Le Cloitre St-Paul Mausole and later in a taped interview, she painted a very clear picture of Vincent’s time in St-Remy.

Much of his work here reveals a troubled mind. The asylum backs onto Les Alpilles, a line of distinctive limestone hills which twist and rise in strange formations. The soil is dry and dusty. Cypress trees and gnarled olive bushes are the dominant vegetation. This is a strange place and it is easy to imagine Vincent’s unease here.

The asylum at St-Remy is still run by nuns. At the moment they care for 30 patients. All women. The building itself is a former monastery. The stone walls and passage ways have a distinctive echo. This has found its way into my music for the nightmare hallucinations Vincent suffers in Van Gogh.

Vincent went into this asylum of his own free will. The horrors of Arles had left him in need of rest and shelter. But for an edgy man, needing peace, this was not the perfect place. I thought of Vincent standing alone in his locked cell with its barred windows. A sad vision and one which inspired a new song, ‘ Where Do I Go Now? ’.

The distinctive sound of an unaccompanied female singer, heard inside the small chapel within the asylum, also stayed in my mind. Her voice and the ambience of the chapel gave me the idea for the nuns’ choir who sing in, ‘ Where Do I Go Now? ’.

During the latter stages of his stay at the asylum, Vincent was allowed to go out into the hills and paint. But every night he was locked away again. His brother Theo enabled him to make one final move and to spend the last days of his life painting in freedom in northern France.

Auvers - sur - Oise

This little town, 45 minutes from Paris by train, is where Vincent spent his final days. A walking tour takes you to the places Vincent painted. He was in Auvers for the last 70 days of his life and completed 78 paintings in that time. An amazing work rate. He worked at great speed, but the style of these canvases is mainly lyrical and controlled. His paintings of the local church and town hall, for example.

Vincent was not a raving figure daubing paint on the canvas, as he is so often seen. There are no reports of him being badly behaved in Auvers. Certainly, he was a lonely figure, but not threatening. I believe he took his own life because illness and failure had finally eroded his spirit.

Vincent knew his brother Theo had problems of his own. Theo was a married man now, with a family to care for. His baby son - Vincent - was ill. Theo was also unhappy at his job at an art gallery in Paris. He was thinking of leaving Paris to make a fresh start. Vincent realised he could no longer take money from Theo. So, plagued by illness, depression and loneliness, he shot himself in the fields outside Auvers.

The bullet did not kill him. He died two days later. Theo was at his side. We visited the little room where this happened. We were told Vincent showed no high emotion there. He was calm and quiet until the end. I believe that by this stage, he was resigned to his fate. His love for Theo played its part in his suicide. He no longer wanted to be a burden to his brother. All this was confirmed in my mind by my visit to Auvers.

Theo died of a broken heart just six months after Vincent’s death. We visited the little cemetery where the two brothers are buried side-by-side. A calm, quiet place. You walk to it across open fields, on a hill above Auvers. The whole area is protected now, as a mark of respect. I did not find it a depressing place. It felt peaceful. The brothers now rest together .. this is how it should be.

Later, I taped an interview with Catherine Galliot, Director of the Office de Toursime d’Auvers-sur-Oise, who was very informative and helpful. The most important aspect of our interview was that Catherine agreed with my thoughts on Vincent’s demeanour during his time in Auvers. He was not a raging lunatic. He was a sensitive and lonely man who knew the end was near and who could see no way out. His final days were marked by a tragic dignity. This is reflected in the suicide scene of Van Gogh.

The finale of our show develops into a soaring tribute to Vincent and Theo through a short film, shown on the on-stage screens. This idea came to me as we climbed the hill in Auvers and walked across the harvest fields, beneath a clear blue summer sky. ( Detailed descriptions of the film and grand finale appear in the book of the show ).

The 'Van Gogh' does not end with a whimper. It ends with a roar.

Summary

The Van Gogh landmarks we saw in France attract thousands of admirers every year. Visitors come from all over the world. Vincent and Theo are still loved and revered. This warmth and emotion is celebrated in the grand finale of the show.

The research trip I have described was hugely beneficial. It proved to be informative and inspirational. Two months after returning to the U.K., the final intensive writing phase for the musical was over and 'Van Gogh' was complete.