Christine Westhoff sings An Aria for Fatimah

Its strange isn’t it, when you have a tune in your head but no words to fit! This was the case with my daughter Fatimah’s Aria, which was written for her wedding day. I agonised over the words, trying several ideas, but none worked. The harder the tried, the less successful I became.

Then by chance, my good friend Roy Howarth asked me to song Percy Shelley’s poem “Love’s Philosophy”. Surprisingly, the lyrics for this great poem suggested a melody all of their own.
So I thought…..perhaps Percy Shelley might have written a poem about a bride….which of course he had….A Bridal song. It was then a simple case of applying the lyrics to the music!
Whilst all this was going on, my collaboration with superb Soprano Christine Westhoff and her talented pianist/organist/composer husband Tim Allen began…..and so I thought….I’ll ask Christine and Tim to record this piece for me.

When I heard Christine singing the aria, I heard not only a beautiful, pitch perfect, Angelic voice, but somehow, Christine was able to express my thoughts as a father on his daughter’s special day, in her singing.

Fatimah’s Aria has been published and registered with Northstar music