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Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
Dos sonetos del amor oscuro / Two sonnets of dark love
For string orchestraCommentary
Texts
Recording
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Commentary
In March 2020, in response to the request that, a few weeks before and each on their own, José Serebrier and José Manuel Gil de Gálvez (the latter on behalf of Concerto Málaga string orchestra) made me, I composed Dos sonetos del amor oscuro (Two sonnets of dark love) , destined to be included in a CD in homage to Manuel de Falla that orchestra and director would record in the summer of that same year.
José Serebrier
Concerto Málaga String Orchestra
The initial proposal included the suggestion of taking advantage of the closeness between Falla and Garcia Lorca to compose a brief suite using some of the songs harmonized by the poet, given their approach to popular music; but as the idea of the work matured, I finally oriented myself towards linking it to Lorca's more mature, profound and enigmatic poetry, such as that of the Sonnets of dark love, whose complete posthumous publication, in March 1984, in the pages of the "ABC Cultural" and framed with some magnificent Grau Santos illustrations, made a great impression on me.
The work consists of two movements, and for them I chose, looking for contrast, two especially significant sonnets: the Sonnet of the sweet complaint, and the Sonnet of the garland of roses, whose texts accompany these notes so that their reading enrich the hearing. And it was very easy and pleasing to let myself be carried away by the moods evoked by Lorca, serene and supplicating in the first sonnet, and agitated and energetic in the second, to compose two autonomous pieces in which, in a certain way, lies not only the character of each poem, but also, and to a large extent, some aspects of its formal structure. At the end of the initial and final sections of the second movement, the direct homage of the work to Manuel de Falla becomes clear, as an unequivocal rhythmic cell from the final "Jota" of The three-cornered hat appears as a quasi ostinato.
Manuel de Falla, The three-cornered hat, Final dance
The Two sonnets of dark love are dedicated to José Serebrier and the Concerto Málaga String Orchestra, who performed the premiere in Málaga on August 3, 2021, as well as the recording included in the CD "Homage to Falla", published by the Belsuono label in June 2023.
First page of the Two sonnets of dark love (bows by José Serebrier)
Texts
I |
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Tengo miedo a perder la maravilla de tus ojos de estatua y el acento que de noche me pone en la mejilla la solitaria rosa de tu aliento. Tengo pena de ser en esta orilla tronco sin ramas; y lo que más siento es no tener la flor, pulpa o arcilla, para el gusano de mi sufrimiento. Si tú eres el tesoro oculto mío, si eres mi cruz y mi dolor mojado, si soy el perro de tu señorío, no me dejes perder lo que he ganado y decora las aguas de tu río con hojas de mi otoño enajenado. |
Never let me lose the marvel of your statue-like eyes, or the accent the solitary rose of your breath places on my cheek at night. I am afraid of being, on this shore, a branchless trunk, and what I most regret is having no flower, pulp, or clay for the worm of my despair. If you are my hidden treasure, if you are my cross, my dampened pain, if I am a dog, and you alone my master, never let me lose what I have gained, and adorn the branches of your river with leaves of my estranged Autumn. (Translated by John K. Walsh and F. Aragón) |
II |
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¡Esa guirnalda! ¡pronto! ¡que me muero! ¡Teje deprisa! ¡canta! ¡gime! ¡canta! que la sombra me enturbia la garganta y otra vez viene y mil la luz de enero. Entre lo que me quieres y te quiero, aire de estrellas y temblor de planta, espesura de anémonas levanta con oscuro gemir un año entero. Goza el fresco paisaje de mi herida, quiebra juncos y arroyos delicados. Bebe en muslo de miel sangre vertida. Pero ¡pronto! Que unidos, enlazados, boca rota de amor y alma mordida, el tiempo nos encuentre destrozados. Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), Sonetos del amor oscuro (h. 1935) |
A garland, quick, I’m dying! Weave it now, sing and moan and sing! For shadows my throat are clouding and again the January light comes in. Trembling bushes and the air of stars lie between your love and mine, a dense mass of anemones picks up an entire year with a muffled moan. Revel in the open country of my wound, break apart its reeds and delicate rivulets, drink from my thigh my pouring blood. But be quick! And then, together entwined, with love-broken mouths and frayed souls time will find us utterly destroyed. (Translated by Paul Archer) |
Recording
Concerto Málaga String Orchestra. Conductor: José Serebrier
| I. Sonnet of the sweet complaint |
| I. Sonnet of the garland of roses |