My inspiration for this piece was a quote (from the famous Spanish cellist Pablo Casals) which I came across many years ago. It must have been around 1997, as at the time I was shooting for my second coffee table book "Until Now" and I was so moved by the words I immediately decided to feature them in the beginning of my book. For me these words so completely encapsulate my feelings about babies, and their absolute sense of promise for the future, if only they are nurtured and unconditionally loved from the very beginning. For many years afterwards, I had thought that it would be amazing to combine some of my imagery with the quote itself, and over the past six months I have finally been able to do so. The music contained in this piece is original, and was composed especially for this project. Of course I knew the words by heart, but when I first heard the music overlayed with the quote, I was moved to tears.
The English/US version of the voice-over was done in a studio in Los Angeles, during one of my many visits there, and in a Sydney recording studio I directed readings in Italian, German, Dutch, Spanish and French. I was initially concerned that here in Australia, it wouldn't be easy finding these great voices to read in all the different languages, but everyone was amazing. Now people keep making suggestions for even more languages! Next week I will direct a Japanese and Mandarin version. Doesn't it just prove what I have been saying for many years, babies effortlessly speak to people the world over!
