Song of Spring (2016)
For SSA Choir, a capella
Score (PDF)
Program Notes
In contrast with my joyful 2014 setting of the same text, this 2016 version of Quintana's Song of Spring presents a more melancholy, resigned perspective of the season. Though still brimming with life, here Quintana's "dance" is a poignant lament for the beloved dead and his "explosions of blossoming trees," an inevitable cycle of nature casting ephemeral human existence in brittle bas-relief.
The Text
Canção da Primavera
(Para Érico Veríssimo)
Primavera cruza o rio
Cruza o sonho que tu sonhas.
Na cidade adormecida
Primavera vem chegando.
Catavento enloqueceu,
Ficou girando, girando.
Em torno do catavento
Dancemos todos em bando.
Dancemos todos, dancemos,
Amadas, Mortos, Amigos,
Dancemos todos até
Não mais saber-se o motivo…
Até que as paineiras tenham
Por sobre os muros florido!
-Mario Quintana; Canções, 1946
Song of Spring
Spring passes over the river
Passes through the dream you are dreaming.
In the slumbering city
Springtime is coming.
The weathercock has gone mad
Has gone turning, turning
And around the weathercock
All of us dance in a flock.
All of us dance, we dance
The Beloved, the Dead, the Friends,
All of us dance until
The purpose cannot be recalled...
Until the floss silk treest have
Blossomed over the ramparts.
-Translation by Jan Reinhart
The Composition Process
Written over a January weekend, these manuscript scans show the song in second draft. Mostly lacking specific rhythms and meter, the draft outlines the main sections of the piece, with annotations indicating points of expansion. The phrase "When I call God's name, God answers" is the text to a liturgical antiphon composed for that weeks's church service, indicating this draft was written on a Saturday night or Sunday morning. Note the draft is written across the page divider.
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